Brogan Tennyson Group

T he Scandinavian P ioneers

by Jeffrey S. Olson

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The Scandinavian Pioneers

by Jeffrey S. Olson jolson.nyc@gmail.com March 2020

Follow the Scandinavian Pioneers on social media to stay in touch with your ancestry and share your stories.

Front cover painting, To America by Kristian Skolmen showing the departure of Lars Martin Pedersen in 1869 to America from the Skolmen Farm, the same farm where Sophie Tomte, my second great-grandmother, grew up and the same year she departed for America.

Copyright Š 2020 by Jeffrey S. Olson All rights reserved First published March 2020 Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-1-7343895-0-0 Book design by Alex Van Dorp

This book is dedicated to my wife Amy and to our children Ryan, Charlie, Hannah, and Jamie. Our hope is that our family continues to carry the values and dreams that led our ancestors to America.

The Olson Family

John Olson B. 1839 Skogn, Norway D. 1909 Brandon, Minnesota

Sophie Tomte B. 1847 Nordre Land, Norway D. 1927 Brandon, Minnesota

Ellef Berg B. 1849 Asjenford, Norway D. 1906 Brandon, Minnesota

Henry Olson B. 1874 Minneapolis, Minnesota D. 1948 Brandon, Minnesota

Petrine Melhus B. 1850 Asjenford, Norway D. 1933 Brandon, Minnesota

Jennie Berg B. 1879 Brandon, Minnesota D. 1958 Brandon, Minnesota

Elroy Olson B. 1908 Wildrose, North Dakota D. 1994 Marysville, Washington

Jerome Olson B. 1937 Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Darrel Olson B. 1941 Seattle, Washington D. 2014 Snohomish County, Washington

John Ostlund B. 1829 Grasmark, Sweden D. 1908 Hoffman, Minnesota

Karl Lundblad B. 1845 Farnebo, Sweden D. 1882 Torsby, Sweden

Britta Johndotter B. 1830 Grasmark, Sweden D. 1908 Hoffman, Minnesota

Nels Ostlund B. 1862 Grasmark, Sweden D. 1938 Barrett, Minnesota

Marie Lundblad B. 1874 Torsby, Sweden D. 1965 Seattle, Washington

Edythe Ostlund B. 1913 Hoffman, Minnesota D. 2002 Marysville, Washington

Diane Olson B. 1945 Alexandria, Minnesota

Lena Olsdotter B. 1851 Fryksande, Sweden D. 1932 Hackensack, Minnesota

Larry Olson B. 1952 Seattle, Washington

Map showing Norway and Sweden with several highlighted farms relevant to the Olson family From top to bottom: 1. Skogn, Äsen, Norway–Olson, Berg, and Melhus Farms 2. Norde Land, Norway–Tomte Farm 3. Värmland, Sweden–Ostlund, Jönsdotter, Lundblad and Olsdotter Farms

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When the author found records of his own ancestors, it was to him like finding friends. The material in this book has been collected by him as a labor of love [...] His recompense is the satisfaction that here he enjoys the privilege of introducing to living [relatives] their forgotten friends whom they resemble; kinsmen whom they should honor. — Frost Genealogy in Five Families, 1926

Table of Contents

Introduction 10 A Note on Scandinavian Naming Conventions 12 Chapter 1: The Olson Line 14 Chapter 2: The Berg Line 24 Chapter 3: The Ostlund Line 34 Chapter 4: The Lundblad Line 40 Conclusion 48 A Personal Note 50 Appendix 51

Introduction

It has been a century and a half since my paternal second great-grandparents left Scandinavia and crossed the Atlantic to build new homes on the American frontier. Each of them relied on faith, family, and hard work to rise to the challenges of immigration and pioneer life, transforming risk into opportunity. They passed those values down to my grandparents, who taught them in turn to me, my siblings, and my cousins. What follows are the stories of my second great-grandparents—the adversity they faced on the American frontier, and the courage and convictions that sustained them as they planted our family’s roots in this country.

My grandfather Elroy’s grandparents, John and Sophie Olson and Ellef and Petrine Berg, were farmers from Norway. They were all young and unmarried when they left their homeland in pursuit of a more prosperous future farming the fertile prairies of Minnesota.

My grandmother Edythe’s grandparents, John and Britta Ostlund and Karl and Lena Lundblad, were from farming villages in Sweden. John and Britta were both around fifty when they brought their six children to farm in Minnesota after having lost nine close family members to dysentery and other diseases. Lena crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Minnesota as a thirty-five-year-old widow with

two young children following her husband Karl’s premature death.

And so, seven of my eight paternal second greatgrandparents started their lives anew in America, where land was plentiful and hard work would bear fruit. They were among the nearly three million Scandinavians who immigrated to the United States between 1865 and 1925 under the accumulated pressures of religious repression, overpopulation, and the disease, famine, and competition for land that the latter brought on. The majority of these immigrants were farmers who took advantage of Abraham Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1862, which granted 160 acres of federal land at no cost to any settler who farmed it for five years. Many Scandinavians were attracted to Minnesota because of its rich soil and familiar climate. Chain migration was common: immigrants often followed others from their communities to settle in close proximity, as our families did in Minnesota.

The pioneer lives they built there were similar in both their hardships and triumphs to that of the Ingalls family from Little House on the Prairie, who homesteaded only 130 miles south of where our immigrant ancestors settled and farmed.

Like the Ingalls family, they faced harsh weather, mosquitos, grasshopper infestations, and the threat 10

of Native American hostilities. But even in such daunting conditions, their tenacity and diligence brought them the joy of building new families and communities that have endured long beyond their own lifetimes.

Their children grew up as American citizens and saw the world transformed by the development of new technologies, the growth of commerce, two world wars, and the progressive U.S. government policies of the early twentieth century. Amidst these exceptional changes and challenges, they carried with them their parents’ convictions. My dad remembers working summers on the Olson farm in Minnesota in the 1940s and 1950s, and how it was still run with the same perseverance and industry as when our ancestors first carved out a new life there.

He carries this mentality with him today, and has passed it on to his children and grandchildren.

Piecing together these stories has been pioneering in its own way. Two years ago, my dad and I embarked on a campaign to reconstruct our family’s history. We were surprised to find how little we knew of our own heritage, and yet how much information was stored away on both sides of the Atlantic, waiting to be discovered and recognized as part of a grand narrative. A team of professional genealogists from Ancestry.com, DNA experts, several local historians, and many relatives across two continents have helped us collect facts, connect stories, and ultimately establish the identity of most of my Scandinavian second great-grandparents’ descendants. We number 2,371 so far.

The best and most surprising part of our journey has been the relationships we’ve established with dozens of newfound family members, built upon the shared history and values that unite us across Scandinavia and America. Using the information from our initial research, we emailed, cold-called,

and door-knocked to find distant relatives across two continents. To date, we’ve toured the Scandinavian farms where each of my second great-grandparents lived before moving to America. We’ve eaten meals and shared aquavit in distant cousins’ homes, exchanging family pictures and stories and comparing knowledge of past and present. Over and over again my excitement about this project has been met with the enthusiasm of mutual revelation. I’m grateful for the eagerness with which so many of our long-lost relatives have contributed to this ancestral history, and for the family bonds it has rekindled.

This book has been compiled from all of our findings so far, but is a work in progress, to be expanded and updated as our research continues.

It aims to tell how each of our four family lines— the Olsons, Bergs, Ostlunds, and Lundblads— was brought to America by my second greatgrandparents between 1865 and 1886. They crossed the Atlantic separately, but settled in close proximity to each other in the Minnesotan towns of Brandon, Barrett, and Hoffman. Together they constitute my family’s roots in the United States, where their genes, values, and history have been passed down through five generations.

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A Note on Scandinavian Naming Conventions

The Olson line can be traced back to one of our earliest known ancestors: my ninth greatgrandfather, Jon Minsas, who was born in 1565, within a year of both Galileo and Shakespeare.

“Olson” didn’t appear as a family name until 1874, however, because neither Norwegian nor Swedish families used fixed surnames until the late 1800s.

Instead, they used a patronymic pattern where each child’s last name was his or her father’s first name followed by “-sson” or “-sen” for males, and “-sdotter” or “-sdatter” for females, sometimes with the “s” dropped. Women retained their existing name after marriage, rather than assuming their husbands’. Individuals would often supplement their given names with the name of the farm where they lived, to further clarify their identity and origin.

This pattern, the inconsistencies in its application and spelling, and the often erratic way our ancestors transitioned to a modern system with many ad hoc Americanizations can be confusing. Many of our earlier ancestors had commonly-found first names, so paying attention to how their full names show both patrilineage and home farm can help in understanding our family history before we came to America.

As detailed on the next page, the surname Olson came from Ole Andersen Hoem’s son, Johan Olesen (Ole+sen), which he anglicized to Olson after

settling in Minnesota. The addition of “Hoem” to Ole Andersen’s name meant he was raised on Hoem Farm. If my children had been named following this convention, they would be Ryan Jeffreysen Nettleton, Charles Jeffreysen Nettleton, Hannah Jeffreysdatter Nettleton, and James Jeffreysen Nettleton (“Nettleton” is the name of our family farmhouse in Connecticut).

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The lineage of our surname. The name Olson was first inherited by Henry Olaf Olson, whose father, Johan Andreas Olesen, anglicized his name to John Olson when he immigrated.

Jon Minsas (1565–unknown)

Iver Johnson Minsas (1600–unknown)

Ole Iverson (1645–unknown)

Ole Olsen Ness (1678–1749)

Ole Olsen Ness (1710–1787)

Anders Olsen Ness (1744–unknown)

Ole Andersen Hoem (1803–unknown)

Johan Andreas Olesen (1839–1909)

Henry Olaf Olson (1874–1948)

Elroy Perry Olson (1908–1994)

Jerome Elroy Olson (1937–

)

Jeffrey Scott Olson (1968–

)

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Chapter 1: The Olson Line Johan Olesen (John Olson) & Helene Sophie Halvorsdatter Tomte (Sophie Olson)

John Olson

Sophie Tomte

born

born

February 8, 1839, Skogn, Norway

October 14, 1847, Nordre Land, Norway

died

died

August 14, 1909, Brandon, Minnesota

March 26, 1928, Brandon, Minnesota

buried

buried

West Moe, Brandon, Minnesota

West Moe, Brandon, Minnesota

father

father

Ole Andersen Hoem (1802–unknown)

Halvor Helgesen (1791–1848)

mother

mother

Jonette Jonsdatter (1811–unknown)

Siri Hansdatter (1805–unknown)

baptized

baptized

Alstadhaug Church, Skogn, Norway

Lutheran Parish, Nordre Land, Norway

immigrated

immigrated

1865

1867

siblings

siblings

Margrethe Olsdatter (1843–unknown) married Karl Bjerken (1837–1906)

Lava Matea Halvorsdatter Tomte (1839–1881) married Hans Olsen (1818–unknown) Agnete Halvorsdatter Tomte (1842–1934) married Martin Olson (1845–1905) Hans Christian Halvorsen Noer (1845–1930) married Christine Olsder (1839–1876)

children

Henry Olson (1874–1948) married Jensine Bergh (1879–1958) Jensine Olson (1876–1914) married Peder Hanson (1858–1927) Ludwick Olson (1878–1881) Magda Olson (1882–1964) married John Halgrimson (1865–1937)

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VERDAL AND NORDRE LAND, NORWAY Jon Minsas was born in 1565 near the central Norwegian town of Verdal, about eighty miles north of Trondheim. Verdal borders the Verdalselva River—one of Norway’s best for salmon fishing— and is surrounded by rich pasture and farmland.

From the late eighth century into the eleventh, Verdal was home to many of the legendary Vikings.

Verdal is also known for being the site of the Battle of Stiklestad, where King Olaf II of Norway was killed by the alliance of Norwegian chieftains and their bondehæren, or farmers’ armies, that had exiled him two years before. In the year 1030, Olaf returned to Norway to reclaim his throne and bring Christianity to his country, but the Norwegians resented the religious and political imposition and rose up against him again. Though he lost the battle, Olaf II was canonized as a saint and martyr and is lauded even today as the Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae, or Eternal King of Norway. The majestic Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim was built over his remains.

Starting in the 1500s, Jon Minsas and the six generations of Olson ancestors who followed him lived in Verdal, on or around the Naes Farm (which remains a beautiful working farm today).

In the mid-1800s, my third great-grandfather, Ole Andersen, moved our family from Verdal to Skogn, a small farming village about twenty-five miles to the west. Ole became the postman between Trondheim and Levanger, making the fifty-mile journey twice a week by horse-drawn carriage.

My second great-grandmother Sophie’s family can be traced to the Skolmen Farm in Nordre Land, a small farming village about one hundred miles north of Oslo, and close to Lillehammer, the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics.

JOHAN ANDREAS OLESEN & HELENE SOPHIE HALVORSDATTER TOMTE Seven generations after Jon Minsas, my second great-grandfather Johan Andreas Olesen, was born in 1839 to Ole Andersen Hoem and Jonette Jonsdatter at Hoem Farm in Skogn, Norway. He was baptized and later confirmed at the nearby Alstadhaug Church, built in 1180. When he was about ten, his family bought and moved to Ensomhet Farm, about two miles north of Hoem and on the beautiful Trondheim Fjord waterfront.

Johan Olesen was twenty-six years old when he crossed the Atlantic by ship in 1865, inspired by the promise of cheap farmland and a chance to build a part of the American frontier with his own hands.

Out of the seven men and women who made up our family’s immigrant generation, he was the first to arrive in America and one of the founding settlers of Brandon, Minnesota, where many from the next generation found each other and flourished.

Once landed, Johan anglicized his name to John Olson and made his way to Minnesota, where he met Helene Sophie Halvorsdatter Tomte. They were married in Minneapolis in 1871.

John’s only sibling was his younger sister, Margrethe, who remained in Skogn and married Karl Bjerken. Karl was the church warden at Alstadhaug: he oversaw maintenance of the parish’s cemetery and rang the bells that marked out time for the town and farms within earshot of the church.

During the early 1900s, Margrethe kept up a transatlantic correspondence with her sister-in-law Sophie, and several of her letters were preserved by my grandfather and are still with our family today.

Many descendants of Margrethe and Karl’s line still live in Skogn, including Ole and Britta Eide.

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L, Alstadhaug Church, Skogn, Norway

We visited their family and farm near Alstadhaug Church in August 2018 and August 2019.

Sophie was born in 1847 to Halvor Helgesen and Siri Hansdatter in Nordre Land. Her parents weren’t landowners in their own right, but rather ‘cottars’—they farmed a land allotment belonging to Skolmen Farm known as Tomte. They belonged to Nordsinni Church, which was built in 1758 but moved to a nearby, more central location in 1893.

When Sophie’s father Halvor died, another cottar family took over Tomte, but agreed to let Siri remain there (with one-year-old Sophie and her three siblings) in exchange for welfare money from the Lutheran Church.

In 1869, twenty-two-year-old Sophie left Nordre Land for America. As a cottar’s daughter, her chances of moving up in life to work her own farm were slim in Norway, but land was plentiful on the American frontier. The wooden steamer trunk she carefully packed her whole life into for the transatlantic journey sits today in my dad’s family room. Sophie initially settled in Decorah, Iowa, but two years later headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she met John Olson. Her sister, Agnete, homesteaded a farm in McIntosh, Minnesota, while her brother Hans homesteaded in Erskine, Minnesota.

With three of her four children grown and

building families of their own in America, Siri Hansdatter moved away from the Skolmen farm of Nordre Land to Øverhaugen Farm to live with her eldest daughter, Lava. By that time, Sophie’s generation had put down new roots in the fertile soil of the American Midwest.

BRANDON, THE FRONTIER TOWN In 1868, John and Sophie Olson paid homesteader Halvor Rassmussen $440 for his hundred-and-sixtyacre farm in the town of Brandon, Minnesota. Our historical family papers still include the original homestead deed that changed hands, signed by President Andrew Johnson’s secretary, Frank Cowan, in 1867. This farm would stay in the Olson family for more than a century.

Brandon is a rural community about 140 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Its population numbered five hundred in 1880, and is about the same today.

Like many of the midwestern farming towns that still make up the breadbasket of America, it grew from a collection of homesteads into a bustling community with the advent of the railroad. Brandon’s original downtown was abandoned in 1879 and moved two miles south to be next to the new Great Northern Railroad station, Brandon Depot. The railroad would connect the town’s farm families to a section 16

~1900, John, Henry, Magda, Jensine and Sophie

of the nation stretching from Saint Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington—over 1,700 miles. According to Constant Larson, editor of the county’s history in 1916, Brandon shipped more grain than any other depot in Douglas County, Minnesota during the years around World War I. On their Brandon farm in the late 1800s, John and Sophie Olson faced the multitude of hardships that were part of early pioneer life. Nature often threatened the young family’s economic survival.

Heavy rains, hail, and even tornadoes meant they were often forced to watch their crops and buildings destroyed by powers beyond their control and then scramble to rebuild, replant, and recover.

Mosquitoes were one of the most difficult pests to endure, but far worse for the Olsons and their neighbors was the grasshopper plague of 1873–1877.

In 1876 alone, the wave of grasshoppers that descended on Minnesota destroyed 500,000 acres of crops. But on April 26, 1877, Governor John Sargent Pillsbury responded to the grasshopper plague by proclaiming a “statewide day of prayer,” and two days later a snowstorm wiped out the grasshoppers and their millions of eggs.

The potential for hostilities with Native Americans was also a perennial worry for frontier families in the 1860s and 1870s. Following General George

Custer’s defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876, there was mass, unsubstantiated paranoia among white settlers about Sioux and Cheyenne attacks. According to John and Sophie’s granddaughter, Lila Olson, at one point the family moved their household to Fort Abercrombie in North Dakota until rumors of danger had passed. There is no historical evidence to corroborate their expectation of such a threat, but for a pioneer family perpetually beset by new hazards, prudence was paramount.

JOHN AND SOPHIE’S DEATHS John Olson died in 1909 in Brandon, Minnesota, at the age of seventy. He was buried near his farm at the West Moe Lutheran Cemetery, and his obituary described him as “one of the oldest settlers in the township, who owned one of the finest farms around here.” It continued: He has several times been trusted with public affairs and held offices of trust, which work he performed honestly, commanding the confidence of all he had to deal with. He was an active church worker and was a member of the Norwegian Synod church. His place in church was seldom vacant and he regularly partook of the Lord’s supper. The word of God was always 17

dear to him, and he has now without doubt gone to his final reward.

at her desire, and at all times to treat Sophia [sic] as a member of the family in a kind and respectful manner and to exercise no restraint over her and she shall have the right to come and go as she chooses.

While the Olsons were establishing themselves in Brandon, Sophie had kept up a correspondence with friends and relatives she’d left in Norway, including John’s sister, Margrethe. Upon John’s death, she sent Sophie a letter full of condolences for her loss.

Sophie died in 1927, at the venerable age of eighty, and was buried next to her husband at the West Moe Lutheran Cemetery. Her pink granite gravestone simply reads, “Mother Sophie H. 1847–1927,” while John’s reads “Father John A. 1839–1909.”

Over the course of her long life, Sophie had struck out on her own across the Atlantic, flourished under the often perilous and grueling challenges that faced a pioneer woman, and raised part of the first generation of our family to be born in the United States—my great-grandfather, Henry Olson, and his sisters, Jensine and Magda. Their brother, Ludvig, died at age three, and two more of their siblings died in infancy.

It was sad when I opened your letter [announcing John’s death] and saw the pretty gravestone where under my dear brother is resting. I am sending you my heartfelt thanks. I hope that he’s now with his Lord and Savior. I hope that we can be gathered together in heaven. […] We’ve had grain and potatoes and a successful harvest, and people pay good money for that produce […] Of course, these days are so cold that the water on the table will freeze at night. We need expensive wood to burn […] I often think about seeing you. Heartfelt greetings, live well.

— Margrethe Bjerken, February 4, 1912

JOHN AND SOPHIE’S CHILDREN Henry Olson married his neighbor Jennie Berg in 1900, and in 1906 moved his family to Wildrose, North Dakota, where he “proved up” his own homestead. He brought Jennie and their children back to Minnesota in 1912 to run the Brandon farm after his father John’s death.

Also in 1900, John and Sophie’s eldest daughter Jensine married Peter Hanson, a forty-year-old Norwegian immigrant farmer who had arrived in America six years earlier. They settled in Brandon and had three girls and three boys. Jensine died at the age of thirty-eight of heart failure when her youngest child was not quite four.

John and Sophie’s youngest child who lived to adulthood was Magda Louise. She married another

Sophie Olson outlived her husband by almost two decades, remaining on the Brandon farm until young Henry Olson and his family returned to Minnesota to manage it. Sophie eventually sold Henry the farm outright, with a contract stipulating that Henry would provide his mother with the following: ...good and sufficient shelter, furnishing her with a good comfortable separate room, proper light and fuel to make the room comfortable at all times, rendering nursing, medicine and medical attendance in times of sickness and infirmity for the rest of her life. Also, to furnish her with one horse and buggy and to hitch up the horse 18

L, ~1884, John, Jensine, Henry, Sophie and Magda R, ~1907, John and Sophie (sitting); Magda, Henry and Jensine (standing)

first-generation Norwegian-American—John E. Halgrimson of Goodhue County, Minnesota. John and Magda had three daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

Many descendants of the Olson, Hanson, and Halgrimson families still live in Minnesota today.

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Ole Anderson Hoem and Jonette Jonsdatter – John Olson’s parents (my third great-grandparents)

Ensomhet Farm, Skogn, Norway – View from John Olson’s childhood home (no longer standing)

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Trunk from Sophie Tomte’s home used to carry her belongings from Norway to America.

It reads “Sophie H. D. til Decorah, Iowa Nortamerika.”

Sophie Tomte’s childhood home – Nordre Land, Norway

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The Olson Farm, Brandon, Minnesota

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Map of Brandon, Minnesota highlighting the location and showing the proximity of the Olson and Berg Farms 1. Berg Farm 2. Downtown Brandon 3. Olson Farm

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Descendants of the Hoem Family

Descendants of Ole Andersen Hoem and Jonette Jonsdatter

Ole ANDERSEN HOEM

Jonette JONSDATTER

(1803 - ) Birth : Skogn, Norway

Johan Andreas OLESEN

( 1811 - ) Birth : Skogn, Norway

Helene Sofie HALVORSDATTER TOMTE

(1839 - 1909) Birth : Skogn, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Margrethe OLSDATTER

Karl Severin MIKALSEN BJERKEN

(1843 - ) Birth : Skogn Norway

(1847 - 1927) Birth : Nordre Land, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

(1837 - 1906) Birth : Skogn Norway

Johanne Sofie BJERKEN

Henry Olaf OLSON

(1872 - 1917)

Jensine Leselie BERG

(1867 - 1943)

(1874 - 1948)

John Bernhard EIDE

(1879 - 1958)

Jennings Elmer OLSON

Harvey Johnny OLSON

(1900 - 1966)

Elroy Perry OLSON

(1908 - 1994)

(1903 - 1980)

Clarence John OLSON

(1911 - 2000)

Lila Signora OLSON

Aslaug EIDE

(1906 - 1997)

(1900 - 1918)

Glenn Alvin OLSON

Johannes EIDE

( 1902 - )

Harald EIDE

(1907 - 1998)

Gudrund EIDE

(1912 - 1979)

(1909 - 1946)

Evelyn Alphild OLSON

(1916 - 1938)

Jensine Cecilia OLSON

(1876 - 1914)

Peder Tobias HANSON

(1858 - 1927)

Selma Mildred HANSON

(1900 - 1989)

Axel Olaf HANSON

(1905 - 1976)

James Howard HANSON Stella Lenora HANSON

(1902 - 1967)

Philip Irving HANSON

(1908 - 1996)

(1904 - 1986)

Ina Sophie HANSON

(1910 - 2000)

Hans Christian HANSON

(1913 - 1996)

Ludwick M. OLSON

(1878 - 1881)

Magda Louise OLSON

(1882 - 1964)

John E HALGRIMSON

(1865 - 1937)

Mildred HALGRIMSON

(1906 - 1906)

Josie Maybelle HALGRIMSON

(1907 - 1910)

Josie Helen HALGRIMSON

Family ChartMasters

(1912 - 1972)

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Family ChartMasters

Descendants of Halvor and Siri Hansdatter Descendants ofHelgesen the Helgesen Family

Siri HANSDATTER

Halvor HELGESEN

( 1805 - )

Lava Matea HALVORSDATTER TOMTE

Hans OLSEN

(1839 - 1881) Birth : Nordre Land, Norway Death : Sondre Land, Norway

Agnete HALVORSDATTER TOMTE NOER

( 1818 - )

Hans Christian Halvorsen NOER

Martin OLSON

Lovise NOER

(1845 - 1930) Birth : Nodre Land, Norway Death : Erskine, Minnesota

(1845 - 1905) Birth : Norway Death : McIntosh, Minnesota

(1842 - 1934) Birth : Nordre Land, Norway Death : McIntosh, Minnesota

Gunda HANSDATTER

(1791 - 1848)

Johan Andreas OLESEN

(1839 - 1909) Birth : Skogn, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

(1847 - 1927) Birth : Nordre Land, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Henry Olaf OLSON

Harold Alfred NOER

Hans O. OLSON

(1869 - 1875)

Helene Sofie HALVORSDATTER TOMTE

(c 1858 - ) Birth : Norway

(1874 - 1948)

(1870 - 1914)

(c 1872 - )

Jensine Leselie BERG

Emma C OLSON

(1879 - 1958)

(1878 - 1965)

Helene Maria HANSDATTER

Inger S. OLSON

(1872 - )

(c 1872 - )

Herbert L NOER

Christopher SVISDAL

(1899 - )

(c 1869 - )

Olga Evelyn NOER

(1900 - )

Alvin Adolph NOER

(1902 - 1991)

Jennings Elmer OLSON

Harvey Johnny OLSON

(1900 - 1966)

Lila Signora OLSON

(1903 - 1980)

(1906 - 1997)

Johannes Haraldsen Hugulia

(1865 - 1901)

Alfred Clarence NOER

Lloyd M SVISDAL

(1905 - 1996)

Alphild M SVISDAL

(c 1899 - )

Gerald Carl NOER

(1909 - )

Kenneth M NOER

(1914 - )

Elroy Perry OLSON

(1908 - 1994)

Clarence John OLSON

(1911 - 2000)

Glenn Alvin OLSON

(1912 - 1979)

(1901 - 1963)

Ole Henry SYNSTELIEN

(1906 - 1992)

Anton Martin OLSON

Hans “Mathias” Christian Sigvard NOER

(1875 - 1904)

(1872 - 1945)

Katherine ANDERSON

(1878 - 1957)

Ole SYNSTELIEN

Evelyn Alphild OLSON

(1916 - 1938)

Cecilia BAKKE

(1876 - 1971)

(1866 - 1931)

Jensine Cecilia OLSON

(1876 - 1914)

Peder Tobias HANSON

(1858 - 1927)

Malvin OLSON Lava SYNSTELIEN

(1899 - )

Gunhild SYNSTELIEN

(1901 - )

Arthur OLSON (1902 - 1993)

Ragna Christian NOER

Cora OLSON

(1904 - 2003)

(1903 - 1997)

Clarence Leonard NOER

(1907 - 2005)

Minnie A NOER

(1909 - 1990)

Torolf SYNSTELIEN

(1909 - )

Selma Mildred HANSON

Marianne OLSON

James Howard HANSON Stella Lenora HANSON

(1902 - 1967)

(1904 - 1986)

(1914 - 2004)

(1878 - 1926)

Gunda HANSDATTER

(1900 - 1989)

Emma Alphia Gertrude NOER

Olaf G STORHOLM

(1876 - 1898)

(1871 - 1944)

Axel Olaf HANSON

Ole Sigurd Hanson NOER

(1905 - 1976)

Philip Irving HANSON

(1908 - 1996)

Ina Sophie HANSON

(1910 - 2000)

(1873 - )

Laura HANSDATTER

(1881 - 1881)

Orrin M STORHOLM

(1909 - 1967)

Gordon STORHOLM

(1912 - 1982)

Martha Annette STORHOLM

(1919 - 1970)

Hans Christian HANSON

(1913 - 1996)

Louise Amelia OLSON

(1882 - 1969)

Oscar Carl OPPEGAARD

(1880 - 1943)

Ludwick M. OLSON

(1878 - 1881)

Harold Edgar OPPEGAARD

Orney Levon OPPEGAARD

(1907 - 1971)

(1910 - 1969)

Nordal Grant OPPEGAARD

Magda Louise OLSON

(1916 - 1972)

(1882 - 1964)

John E HALGRIMSON

(1865 - 1937)

Birdlyn Mardell OPPEGAARD

(1922 - 1977)

Alfred OLSON

Josie Maybelle HOLGRIMSON

(1885 - )

(1907 - 1910)

Josie Helen HALGRIMSON

(1912 - 1972)

Mildred HALGRIMSON

Henry OLSON

(1888 - )

Sarah OLSON

(May Abt 1880 - 1924)

Martin O STARDIG

(1878 - 1908)

Lester STARDIG

Family ChartMasters

(1908 - 1985)

25

Family ChartMasters

Chapter 2: The Berg Line Ellef Pedersen Berg & Petrine Melhus

Ellef Berg

Petrine Melhus

born

born

June 5, 1859, Åsen, Norway

January 6, 1850, Åsen, Norway

died

died

August 19, 1906, Brandon, Minnesota

July 1, 1933, Brandon, Minnesota

buried

buried

Brandon Cemetery

Brandon Cemetery

father

father

Peder Berg (1812–1860)

Jens Hoven Lassesen Melhus (1801–1863)

mother

mother

Kirsten Auran (1809–1900)

Malli Silverstr Hollaunet (1808–1894)

immigrated

immigrated

1872

1872

siblings

siblings

Johan (1838–1891) married Anna Marta Vedul (1849–1924) Anne (1841–1925) married Peder Pederson (1837–1906) Margrethe (1845–1934) married Lorents Undlien (1835–1909)

Johanna Melhus (1832–1894) married Lorentz Kolsum (1833–1908) Jonetta Melhus (1838–1846) Johan Melhus (1842–1926) married Edrikke Skjelstad (1842–1932) Mette Melhus (1844–1915) Gjertrud Melhus (1845–1912) married Martin Island (1836–1899) Jonetta Melhus (1847–1925) married Johan Undlin (1841–1913) Tolvtine Melhus (1852–unknown) married Anton Skjelstad (1839–unknown) children

Peter Berg (1875–1938) married Hilda Elnes (1884–1907) Minda Berg (1877–1951) married Eldor Hanson (1862–1953) Jensine Berg (1879–1958) married Henry Olson (1874–1948) Emil Berg (1882–1948) married Magnhild Strom (1883–1972) John Berg (1883–1947) married Olga Reinhold (1896–1976) Ole Berg (1885–1951) 26

THE VILLAGE OF ÅSEN The Berg family ancestors first put down roots in Central Norway in the seventeenth century, settling in forests and on farmland near the village of Åsen.

This waterfront community sits on the coast of Trondheim Fjord, and has relied for hundreds of years on agriculture and forestry for its economic security. At the time of the earliest-known Berg ancestors, life in Åsen centered around the family farms and the village churches.

According to local historian Arne Langås, Åsen’s two main churches from the seventeenth to mid-nineteenth centuries were Vang and Lo, both first built in the early 1600s. Vang no longer exists, and Lo was dismantled, moved from Åsen, and rebuilt in Sverresborg Museum in Trondheim. Åsen Church, where many of our ancestors attended and are buried, was built in 1858 and then rebuilt in 1904 after it was struck by lightning on Christmas Day in 1902.

By Arne’s records, the town had over three hundred farms and about two thousand inhabitants in 1865. Those who came to America from Åsen primarily moved to three farming towns— Brandon, Minnesota; Spring Valley, Wisconsin; and Cass County, North Dakota—following the few courageous Norwegians who first settled those areas when the land was still open and uncultivated.

THE EARLY BERG & MELHUS FAMILIES Around 1810, my fourth great-grandmother, Anna Sophie Petersdatter Berg, fell in love with a young man named Ellev Nielsen Fossing. In a Shakespearean turn of tragedy, Anna’s stepfather (known to be a “very hard man”) did not approve of the match and forbade her to see him. This did little good, and she became pregnant with Ellev’s child in 1812.

When the child, Peder Ellevson Berg (my third great-grandfather), was born, Anna’s stepfather attempted to give her hand to another man he found more respectable. According to Peder’s daughter Margrethe Berg, Anna had not gotten up since the delivery, and, when she was introduced to this new man, she rolled over with her back to him and said “I will die here.” And she died without leaving the bed.

The early death of both his mother and his grandmother in 1813 left Peder under the care of his Aunt Mette and an uncle in Skatval until he was a young man, but at twenty-six he struck out on his own. He bought the western half of Berg Farm from his other uncle, Erik Andreas Petersen Berg, and took over its operation himself. Later that year he married Kirsten Johansdatter Auran, and they welcomed the first of their four children. In 1840, at only twenty-eight, Peder was elected mayor of Åsen.

His wife, Kirsten, had been raised in Skatval at 27

Ellef and Petrine Berg’s family

the Auran Farm, the same grounds where Viking Sigurd Ladejarl was burned to death in 962 AD. When my family visited Auran in August 2019, we had lunch with the farm’s owner, Unni Petrine Rokke, just yards away from a Viking burial ground that lies adjacent to her property.

In the years after Peder became mayor, three of his four children joined the wave of immigrants that settled in Minnesota: Johan, Anne, and my second great-grandfather Ellef. Only their daughter Margrethe stayed in Norway, where she married Lorents Undlin and had seven children. Her son Peder and daughter Marie, however, immigrated to Minnesota and joined the many others of their mother’s generation who had settled in Brandon.

About a dozen letters from young Peder to his mother Margrethe have survived until today in the care of our Norwegian relatives, and they present a candid picture of his life as a pioneer farmer over many decades from the nineteenth century into the twentieth. As the Great Depression took hold of the Midwest in 1931, he wrote:

situation. This doesn’t sound like America, where there’s plenty of food and money.

But the money belongs to a few, and nowadays it’s the money that matters. So it became bad for those who didn’t have any money. Well, who’s to blame? We must blame ourselves. In the good times, we wasted money on useless things, including these lousy automobiles that disturb everything.

His great-uncle and namesake Peder Ellevsen Berg died in Åsen in 1860, at only forty-eight years of age. Peder’s wife, Kirsten, and their children— two of whom were still under the age of sixteen— assumed responsibility for the family farm and ran it until sometime around 1875. At that time, their eldest son, Johan Berg, briefly took over, but sold the farm to emigrate in 1881. Kirsten was entitled to live at the farm, but its new owners did not treat her well.

She moved to live with Margrethe and Lorents, and later to the home of Lorents’ sister. When Kirsten died in 1900, only her daughter Margrethe still lived east of the Atlantic.

Before he immigrated to America, Johan Berg married Anne Marta Vedul, and we know much about their lives thanks to a document written by their granddaughter and my great-aunt, Elvira

It’s a hard time in America now. There’s not enough jobs available for working people, so there are many people in need of food and clothes, and efforts are made to remedy the 28

ELLEF & PETRINE’S DEATHS The constant, arduous work of homesteading and farming took its toll on Ellef, who died at age fifty-seven in 1906. He was buried at the Brandon Cemetery, where the traditional family name “Bergh” is prominently displayed on an elaborate tombstone.

His obituary states “Mr. Berg has always been [sic] a home-loving person and devoted his time and efforts to the betterment of himself and family.”

His widow, Petrine, outlived him by over twenty years, dying in 1933 at eighty-three. The world had changed drastically over her lifetime. In the 1870s, she had journeyed to an America that was less than a century old, and helped push the frontier westward like so many other pioneers. In 1924, she wrote a letter to her sister-in-law Margrethe Berg back in Norway, beginning with “I will now try to write some words to you, even if it’s cumbersome and my hand trembles […] we have become old and gray.”

But by then, many of her children (who had moved away to larger towns to start their own families) were able to visit their aging mother by automobile.

Petrine’s letter ends with her remark on the newest marvel: “We have a radio that can be listened to from anywhere in America. It is strange for us to hear music and talk from the air.”

Ostlund. Elvira descended from the Berg line and married an Ostlund, connecting her to both our Norwegian and Swedish family sides. Twenty years ago, she, her son Dennis, and Bjorn Ringen (of the Vedul line) created their own body of research on the Berg and Ostlund families. Bjorn has been our primary contact in Scandinavia and has become a great friend to our entire family. His help with research, translations, and many introductions has been instrumental to the creation of this book.

ELLEF PEDERSEN BERG & PETRINE JENSDATTER MELHUS My second great-grandfather, Ellef Pedersen Berg, was born in 1849 at Berg Farm in Åsen to Peder Ellevsen Berg and Kirsten Johansdatter Auran. Ellef was the couple’s youngest child, and only eleven when his father died and he began to shoulder a part of Berg Farm’s operations.

As a young man, Ellef met Petrine Jensdatter Melhus, whom he would go on to marry after they both immigrated. She had been born to Jens Larsen Melhus and Malli Sivertsdatter in 1850 on Melhus Farm, also in Åsen. Jens was married three times and had eleven children in total. Malli was his third wife, and Petrine was the second-youngest of seven daughters born to the couple.

In 1872, Ellef left Norway and boarded the Caledonia ship in Glasgow, Scotland, headed for America. He arrived in New York City, and like so many of his cohort, headed west to Minnesota. He married Petrine in 1873, and the first of their six children was born about two years later. The family settled in Brandon, about a mile from the Olson farm. For the next twenty-five years, Ellef, Petrine, and their children made a small part of America’s frontier their own.

ELLEF & PETRINE’S CHILDREN Ellef and Petrine had six children. Their sons Peder, Emil, and Ole (who froze to death trying to get his mail) followed in their father’s footsteps and settled on farms in Brandon. Their son John married and went to farm in Montana, before returning to Duluth, Minnesota to work as a tool-grinder. Their daughters, Minda and Jennie, were both married— Minda to Reverend Eldor Hanson from Minneapolis, and my great-grandmother Jennie to her neighbor (and my great-grandfather) Henry Olson.

29

ON THE BERG & MELHUS FARMS My dad, two of my children, and I stayed overnight at the Berg Farm in August 2019 with the current owners—Kristin and Per Øyvind Berg, a lovely couple. For us it was a surreal visit, as we spent the night in the very house our ancestors had slept in over two hundred years ago.

On our first trip there in 2018, we were fortunate to have met Margrethe’s grandson, Olav Bergstrom, who was a hundred years old at the time of our visit.

During World War II, Olav was arrested by German military police for assisting the Allies, and held in a concentration camp where the guards used him as a target to train dogs to chase down prisoners.

Before the war broke out, he’d written and published poetry warning of the threatening, antidemocratic ideologies gaining traction in Europe. During the war, he helped pass information to the British about the German battleship Tirpitz, which was positioned on Trondheim Fjord less than a mile from his home.

Olav had also been aware of the deep wealth and class inequalities in prewar Norway, and spoke to us about how the war ultimately helped break down this social dynamic and open up economic and educational opportunities to all Norwegians. He died on June 11, 2019.

On that same 2018 trip, we visited Melhus Farm.

My third great-grandfather, Jens Lassesen, bought the farm in 1838, and it has remained in the family for six generations—over 180 years. It has been a destination for many of his American descendants curious about their ancestral country and the lives of relatives whose ancestors remained in Norway in the 1800s. My grandfather’s cousin, Hulda Hanson, was born in Minnesota in 1898 and honeymooned at Melhus in 1928. In a letter to my grandparents, Elroy and Edythe Olson, Hulda described the warm welcome she and her husband received at the farm

from Johan Arnt Melhus and his son Erik. Elroy and Edythe brought Hulda’s letter with them on their own trip to Norway in 1968, so they could track down and visit the Melhus farm themselves and meet with Erik’s son, Johan Edvin.

On our trip, we were also welcomed warmly by Melhus’s current owner, Svein Erik Melhus (Johan Arnt’s grandson and my fourth cousin) and his wife, Lek, and met his brothers, Bjørn and Tor Arne. Like Hulda honeymooning nearly a century ago and my grandparents fifty years after her, we explored the farm’s buildings and the green cattle pastures that still overlook them, amazed at how much of the past seemed still present there.

30

Petrine Berg and Anna Marta Berg (Petrine’s sister-in-law)

31

Berg Farm, Åsen, Norway

Bergsveet Farm, Åsen, Norway

32

Melhus Farm

Lunch with the Melhus Family. Left to right: Lek Moontika Melhus, Tor Arne Melhus, Ryan Olson, Jamie Olson, Hannah Olson, Svein Erik Melhus, Jerome Olson, Arne Langas, Jeff Olson, Amy Olson and Charles Olson.

33

Olav Bergstrom, August 2018 with Jerome, Jeff, and Charlie Olson

34

Berg Farm, Brandon, Minnesota

35

Descendants of Peder EllevsenofBerg and Family Kirsten Johansdtr Auran Descendants the Berg

Peder Ellevsen BERG

(1812 - 1860) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Åsen, Norway

Johan Pederson BERGH

Anne Marta EISTENSDATTER REINAS VEDUL

(1838 - 1891) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

(1849 - 1924) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Anne Sophie Pedersdotter BERG

Kirsten Johansdtr AURAN

(1809 - 1900) Birth : Skatval, Norway Death : Åsen, Norway

Peder Olaus PEDERSEN ATLO

(1841 - 1925) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Chippewa Falls, Minnesota

Margrethe BERG

(1837 - 1906) Birth : Norway Death : Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Lorents Peter UNDLIENAUNET

(1845 - 1934) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Åsen, Norway

(1835 - 1909) Birth : Stjørdalen, Norway Death : Åsen, Norway

Peter O. PETERSON

Peder Ingvald Johansen BERGH

Petrine Jensdtr MELHUS

(1850 - 1933) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Peder Lornsen UNDLIN

(1867 - 1961)

(1873 - 1957)

Ellef Pedersen BERGH

(1849 - 1906) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Peter Ellefson BERG

(1872 - 1944)

(1875 - 1938)

Ida Christine LINNARD

Anna GRAFSGAARD

Hilda Julie Bergh ELNES

(1878 - 1969)

(1869 - 1963)

(1884 - 1907)

Sophie STONE

(1886 - 1970)

Castor Kastor John BERGH

Minda Christine BERG

(1874 - 1972)

(1877 - 1951)

Ida E. PROCKNOW

Eldor Mikal HANSON

(1881 - 1958)

Arthur Richard UNDLIN

Sophia PETERSON

(c 1917 - )

Harvey Sherman PETERSON

(1909 - 1977)

Lenora PETERSON

(1918 - 1992)

Elmer P UNDLIN

(1862 - 1953)

Walter Leonard UNDLIN

(1913 - 1973)

(1920 - 1938)

(1920 - 1921)

Nikolone Johansdatter Lena BERGH

Johan Petter UNDLIEN

(1877 - 1926)

(1873 - 1905)

Berger ENGBERG

(1872 - 1943)

Hulda Johanna HANSON

Louise M. LAGESON

Edward Peder (Angell) HANSON

(1898 - 1980)

(1867 - 1910)

Mindora HANSON

(1901 - 1997)

(1899 - 1967)

Karl Petter Lorensen NORDAUNE

(1878 - 1958)

Laura Julie SULVERSDTR

(1877 - 1938)

Rudolph Fredrick ENGBERG

Herbert PETERSON

(1915 - 1993)

Ella Christine HANSON

Geneva L PEDERSON

(1893 - 1960)

H Norman HANSON

(1906 - 1985)

(1898 - 1983)

Ruth Camilla HANSON

(1910 - 1969)

(1913 - 2008)

Olava Lava Johansdtr BERGH

Jensine Leselie BERG

(1879 - 1909)

(1879 - 1958)

Berger ENGBERG

(1872 - 1943)

Agnes J PEDERSON

Henry Olaf OLSON

Alvin PETERSON

(c 1903 - )

(1906 - 1909)

Ragna Sevrine NORDAUNE

(1897 - 1984)

Magnhild Laurine NORDAUNE

(1874 - 1948)

Johanne NORDAUNE

(1901 - 2001)

(1900 - 1981)

Christine PETERSON

(c 1869 - )

Edward Gotfred ENGBERG

Severin NORDAUNE

Helen ENGBERG

(1906 - 1909)

Sofie NORDAUNE

(1903 - 1903)

(1908 - 1932)

Mary Johanna Johansdatter BERG Paul Henry HANSON

Jensine NORDAUNE

Sofie NORDAUNE

Emilie HALGRIMSON

Gudrun NORDAUNE

Maurice Percival HANSON

Laurna Harriet HANSON

(1912 - 1974)

Rebeka PETERSON

Dagny NORDAUNE

(1910 - 1998)

(1908 - 1986)

(1873 - 1949)

Emma NORDAUNE

(1914 - 1990) (1910 - 1993)

Jennings Elmer OLSON

Harvey Johnny OLSON

(1900 - 1966)

Lila Signora OLSON

(1903 - 1980)

(1906 - 1997)

(1871 - 1930)

(1879 - 1955)

Alvina Wendella HANSON

(1907 - 1981)

Casper PETERSON

(1882 - 1969)

(1908 - 1971)

Klara Julie NORDAUNE

(1905 - 1906)

(1912 - 1988)

Karl NORDAUNE

(1917 - 2007)

(1917 - 1917)

Elroy Perry OLSON

Clarence John OLSON

(1908 - 1994)

Glenn Alvin OLSON

(1911 - 2000)

(1912 - 1979)

Evelyn Alphild OLSON

(1916 - 1938)

Oren B PETERSON

(c 1907 - )

Emil E. BERGH

(c 1910 - )

(1882 - 1948)

Magnhild Louise STROM

(1883 - 1972)

Olav NORDAUNE

(1919 - 2005)

Jacob M CHRISTENSON

(1868 - 1930)

Bernice Lenora HANSON

Freeman Osborne HANSON

(1915 - 1968)

Pauline PETERSON

(1918 - 2011)

(c 1876 - )

Inga Sofie LORENTSDTR

(1880 - 1881)

Julia BERGH

(1883 - 1964)

Henry A BERGH

Albert DAHL

(1905 - 1986)

(1880 - 1961)

Laura Otelia CHRISTENSEN

Phillip H CHRISTENSON

(1893 - 1918)

(c 1895 - )

Edel CHRISTENSON

Phillip Elroy BERGH

Miriam E BERGH

(1907 - 1994)

(1909 - 2005)

Inga Sofie UNDLINAUNET

(1896 - 1898)

(1882 - 1948)

Magnus BERGSTROM

(1875 - 1963)

Lloyd A BERGH

(1915 - 1992)

Laurel Clifton DAHL

Harland Marlowe DAHL

(1911 - 1911)

Clarence Joseph CHRISTENSON

(1913 - 1914)

(1901 - 1969)

Ethel CHRISTENSON

(1906 - 1906)

Ira K BERGH

(1920 - 1975)

Lillian A BERGH

(1922 - 1979)

Evelyn Christenson SABO

(1911 - 1999)

John Peter BERGH

(1883 - 1947)

Olga Teresa REINHOLD

Doris Evelyn DAHL

(1915 - 2014)

Donald Orland DAHL

(1916 - 1988)

Sophia PETERSON

Leon F DAHL

(1911 - 2000)

Signe Magnusdtr BERGSTROM

Johan BERGSTROM

(1909 - 2008)

(c 1876 - )

(1921 - 1944)

Julie Magnusdtr BERGSTROM

Magne BERGSTROM

(1896 - 1976)

Nelius Magnusen BERGSTROM

(1912 - 1992)

Sophia Ann BERGH

(1886 - 1966)

John A LINDAHL

(1885 - 1959)

(1914 - 1999)

Odin H PETERSON

Olav BERGSTROM

(1916 - 2000)

(1918 - 2019)

Edwin William BERGH

Violet Mae BERGH

(1912 - 1994)

(1915 - 1983)

Elnora Jeanette BERGH

(1917 - 2012)

(1882 - 1942)

Margit BERGSTROM

Brita Katrina BERGLUND

Verdy Myron LINDAHL

(1920 - 2010)

(c 1885 - )

(1925 - 1966)

(1885 - 1954)

(1922 - 2007)

Peder BERGSTROM

(1923 - 2008)

Robert Leslie BERGH

(1920 - 1997)

James Everett BERGH

(1923 - 1997)

Laura Marie LORENTSDATTER

Ida Johansdatr BERGH

(1886 - 1922)

(1887 - 1973)

John Peter HOLING

Einar Magnusen BERGSTROM

Olive PETERSON

(1904 - 1983)

Ruth PETERSON

(1906 - 1992)

Richard Reinhold BERGH

(1925 - 1987)

Oren Berthrum PETERSON

Loren Raymond BERGH

(1930 - 2012)

Marilyn Joan BERGH

(1933 - 2016)

(1909 - 1947)

Ole E BERGH

Jon UNDLIENAUNET

Eunice Delila KONKLER

Elvira Harriett HOLING

(1905 - 1997)

Ira Jay HOLING

(1911 - 1992)

Howell Jerome HOLING

(1908 - 1992)

Bennie Leroy HOLING

(1913 - 2002)

Dagny Maryann (Marie) HOLING

(1885 - 1951)

(1891 - 1970)

(1885 - 1967)

(1909 - 2003)

Ruby Viola HOLING

Coretta PETERSON

(1911 - 1945)

Margaret PETERSON

(1914 - 1999)

Klara Elvira JOHANSEN

Odin H PETERSON

(1902 - 1958)

(1918 - 1976)

Unknown Person

(1915 - 2002)

Family ChartMasters

Beulah M. COLLIER

John Erwin HOLING

(1918 - 2002)

Oddvar MOKSNES

(1928 - 1992)

Knut HENNING

(1932 - 2013)

Alice BERGH

(1890 - 1898)

36

Family ChartMasters

Descendants of Jens Hoven Lassesen Melhus and Malli Siverstr Hollaunet Descendants of the Melhus Family Jens HOVEN LASSESEN MELHUS

(1801 - 1863)

Johanna Sophia MELHUS

Lorentz KOLSUM

(1832 - 1894) Birth : Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag, Norway Death : Wanamingo, Goodhue, Minnesota, USA

(1833 - 1908) Birth : Norway Death : Minneola, Goodhue, Minnesota

Jonetta JENSDTR MELHUS

(1838 - 1846) Birth :

Johan Arnt JENSSEN MELHUS

Edrikke Eriksdatter SKJELSTAD

(1842 - 1926) Birth : Åsen herred

(1842 - 1932) Birth : Åsen herred

Mette SESILE JENSDTR MELHUS

(1844 - 1915) Birth : Norway

Malli Siverstr HOLLAUNET

(1808 - 1894)

Gjertrud JENSDTR MELHUS

(1845 - 1912) Birth : Norway Death : Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States of America

Martin Johnsen ISLAND

(1836 - 1899) Birth : Frosta kommune, Nord-Trøndelag fylke, Norway Death : Minnesota, United States of America

Jensine Margrethe JOHANSDTR MELHUS

Erik Andreas Lorentssen KOLSUM

(1866 - 1949)

Ellen Anna UNDLIN

(1863 - 1925)

(1859 - 1924)

Arthur KOLSUM

Bertha KOLSUM

Petrine Jensdtr MELHUS

Ellef Pedersen BERGH

(1850 - 1933) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

(1849 - 1906) Birth : Åsen, Norway Death : Brandon, Minnesota

Johanna Margrethe UNDLIN

Peder Johansen SAETHE

Christina KOLSUM

(1895 - 1961)

Johan Arndt UNDLIN

(1841 - 1913) Birth : Åsen, Nord-Trondelag, Norway Death : Cerro Gordo, Lac qui Parle, Minnesota, USA

(1866 - 1928)

(1875 - 1938)

John P FOSSEN

Endre SKAAR

(1862 - 1934)

Hilda Julie Bergh ELNES

Ole HENRIKSEN BERGET

John Odin Lorentssen KOLSUM

(1884 - 1907)

Minda Christine BERG

Martha SKAAR

Ida SKAAR HANSON

(1882 - )

(1892 - )

Iver SKAAR

(1894 - )

Peder FOSEN

Julia FOSEN

(1886 - )

Jonetta FOSEN

Mali ANTONSDATTER

(1888 - 1961)

( 1876 - )

Eldor Mikal HANSON

(1889 - 1959)

(1862 - 1953)

Jessie SKJELSTAD

Erik JOHANSEN MELHUS

(1871 - 1938)

(1861 - 1936)

Jens ANTONSEN

( 1875 - )

(1877 - 1951)

( 1868 - ) ( 1869 - )

Anton Kristian ERIKSEN SKJELSTAD

( 1839 - ) Birth : Aasen

(1850 - 1929)

Kjersten JOHANSDTR MELHUS

(1901 - 1986)

Tolvtine Magrethe JENSDTR MELHUS

( 1852 - ) Birth : Norway

Peter Ellefson BERG

Maren Anna ISLAND

(1873 - 1959)

(1877 - 1914)

(1894 - 1945)

Jonetta JENSDATTER MELHUS

(1847 - 1925) Birth : Norway Death : Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States of America

Franciska FOSEN

Clara ISLAND

(1891 - 1950)

(1876 - )

Eline Regine BERNHARDSDATTER

Inga FOSEN

(1876 - 1942)

Johanes FOSEN

(1893 - )

Nels MOEN

(1895 - )

(c 1879 - )

Hulda Johanna HANSON

(1880 - 1935)

Edward Peder (Angell) HANSON

(1898 - 1980)

Mindora HANSON

(1901 - 1997)

(1899 - 1967)

Lucile MOEN

Anita T MOEN

(c 1908 - )

Martin FOSEN

Mattie L KOLSOM

Johan Edvin E ERIKSEN MELHUS

(1899 - )

Gusta M ISLAND

Borghild Nunnelie E. MELHUS

(1903 - 1977)

(1878 - 1967)

Ella Christine HANSON

( 1908 - )

H Norman HANSON

(1906 - 1985)

Ragnvald SOLUM

(1888 - 1981)

Ruth Camilla HANSON

(1910 - 1969)

(1913 - 2008)

Ella M MOEN

Norman L MOEN

(1914 - 1976)

Jens Johansen UNDLIEN

(1919 - 1930)

(1868 - 1952)

Laura S KOLSOM

Jensine Leselie BERG

(1867 - 1941)

(1879 - 1958)

Henry Olaf OLSON

Jonetta Kristine JOHANSDTR MELHUS

(1874 - 1948)

Ella Regina LEWISON

(1873 - 1927)

Jorgen Michael PAULSEN

(1868 - 1909)

Evelyn SOLUM

(1910 - 1992)

Anna Telise ANTONSDATTER

Mathea KOLSUM

(1869 - 1941)

( 1879 - )

Sophie ISLAND

Peder B. TRELSTAD

(1879 - 1970)

(1873 - 1945)

Ole H BYGD

(1857 - 1937)

Gertrude Signora TRELSTAD

(1903 - 2004)

(1912 - 1984)

Ingebor A FOSEN

(1896 - 1958)

(1864 - )

Nellie K MOEN

(c 1909 - )

Bertram Lawrence TRELSTAD

(1904 - 1982)

Pauline Muriel TRELSTED

Arnt Elmer PAULSEN

Ruth UNDLIN

Ralph H. PAULSON

(1897 - )

Jennings Elmer OLSON

Edna Judith UNDLIN

(1900 - 1985)

Harvey Johnny OLSON

(1900 - 1966)

(1904 - 2000)

Lila Signora OLSON

(1903 - 1980)

(1906 - 1997)

(1907 - 1983)

(1907 - 1995)

Lillian K BYGD

Marie BYGD

(1902 - 1989)

(c 1903 - )

Johan Christian SKJELSTAD

Helen S BYGD

(1904 - 1974)

(1879 - 1952)

Elroy Perry OLSON

Clarence John OLSON

(1908 - 1994)

Severine CHRISTENSEN

Elen Anna JOHANSDTR MELHUS

Glenn Alvin OLSON

(1911 - 2000)

Annie TOSSET

(1912 - 1979)

(1892 - 1981)

(1872 - 1928)

( 1876 - )

Mildred SKJELSTAD Anton Oliver SKJELSTAD

(1869 - 1937)

Bernt J MOE

Evelyn Alphild OLSON

Jennings Clifford UNDLIN

Minda Sofie JOHANSDTR MELHUS

(1898 - 1958)

Jane Gurina Jensdatter UNDLIN

(1901 - 1992)

(1879 - 1965)

Newman Jasper Jensen UNDLIN

(1906 - 1996)

Emil E. BERGH

(1882 - 1948)

Fritz ISLAND

Magnhild Louise STROM

(1876 - 1939)

Esther J MOE

(1883 - 1972)

Arnold Lawrence MOE

(1893 - )

(c 1924 - )

(1916 - 1938)

Carrie KOLSUM

(c 1862 - )

Ethel SKJELSTAD

(1920 - 1992)

(1918 - 1954)

Oscar Sylvester BYGD

(1909 - 2004)

Leonard SKJELSTAD

(c 1926 - )

Gordon SKJELSTAD

(c 1930 - )

Jens M. ISLAND

(1904 - )

(1885 - 1955)

Gilene Sophia HEGRE

Gunda T HENNUM

(1881 - 1971)

(1891 - 1968)

Ragna JOHANSDTR MELHUS

(1884 - 1951)

Amund AMUNDSEN HAGEN

(1868 - 1949)

Olive KOLSUM

Maurice ISLAND

(1913 - 1987)

Bernice Rosa ISLAND

(1916 - 2009)

Marlowe ISLAND

Anna Cecelia UNDLIN

(1919 - 1989)

Henry A BERGH

(1870 - 1938)

(1905 - 1986)

(1872 - 1889)

Phillip Elroy BERGH

Minda Janetta ANTONSD.

Miriam E BERGH

(1907 - 1994)

(1882 - 1972)

(1909 - 2005)

Ole HANSEN

(1882 - 1947)

Johan Arndt UNDLIN

(1873 - 1931)

Raymond Howard ISLAND

Lloyd A BERGH

(1915 - 1992)

(1926 - 2008)

Ira K BERGH

(1920 - 1975)

Lillian A BERGH

(1922 - 1979)

Olga HANSEN

(c 1909 - )

Trygve O. HANSEN

(1910 - 1999)

John HANSEN

(c 1914 - )

Anton L KOLSOM

(1876 - 1925)

Caroline Tabitha KOLSUM

(1888 - 1975)

John Peter BERGH

Martin J Edgwart UNDLIN

(1883 - 1947)

(1875 - 1933)

Olga Teresa REINHOLD

(1896 - 1976)

Lydia T. ROSSI

Laurence Erick KOLSUM

Elfrida HANSEN

(c 1920 - )

(1887 - 1986)

(1918 - 1989)

Iver Christian UNDLIN

(1879 - 1936)

Nellie May STROMSWOLD

(1875 - 1926)

Edwin William BERGH

Violet Mae BERGH

(1912 - 1994)

(1915 - 1983)

Elnora Jeanette BERGH

(1917 - 2012)

Elef Sigvard ANTONSEN

( 1884 - )

John Gerhard UNDLIN

(1881 - 1959)

Anna VOLD

(1882 - 1960)

Robert Leslie BERGH

(1920 - 1997)

James Everett BERGH

(1923 - 1997)

Angel ANTONSEN

( 1886 - )

J Gerald UNDLIN

(1909 - 2003)

Glenn Kaleb UNDLIN

(1911 - 1992)

Margeret N UNDLIN

(1914 - 2004)

Richard Reinhold BERGH

(1925 - 1987)

Loren Raymond BERGH

(1930 - 2012)

Marilyn Joan BERGH

(1933 - 2016)

Ole E BERGH

Lyla R UNDLIN

(1915 - 1998)

Lyle R UNDLIN

(c 1916 - )

Ellen G UNDLIN

(1918 - 2012)

(1885 - 1951)

John Gustav ANTONSEN

( 1888 - )

Ole UNDLIN

(1887 - )

Mollie UNDLIN

(1891 - 1968)

Alfred T VAALA

(1881 - 1961)

Phyllis J VAALA

(1924 - 1984)

Roy T VAALA

(1925 - )

Anna Mae VAALA

(1931 - )

Alfred Carl UNDLIN

(1895 - 1980)

Ida OLDLAND

(1892 - 1984)

Family ChartMasters Harriet Mildred UNDLIN

(1921 - 1986)

37

Idora Louise NELSON

(1926 - 1995)

Family ChartMasters

Chapter 3: The Ostlund Line Jan Henriksson (John Ostlund) & Britta Jönsdotter

John Ostlund

Britta Jönsdotter

born

born

July 28, 1829, Grasmark, Sweden

June 16, 1830, Grasmark, Sweden

died

died

June 21, 1908, Hoffman, Minnesota

January 22, 1908, Hoffman, Minnesota

buried

buried

Fryksande Cemetery, Evansville, Minnesota

Fryksande Cemetery, Evansville, Minnesota

father

father

Henrik Jannson (1785–1844)

Jons Olsson (1807–1857)

mother

mother

Karin Svensdotter (1785–1859)

Marit Henriksdotter (1799–1871)

baptized

baptized

Grasmark Church, Sweden

Grasmark Church, Sweden

immigrated

immigrated

1882

1882

siblings

siblings

Maria Henriksdotter (1825–1859) married Jon Nilsson (1821–1887) Kajsa Jannson (1827–1857) married Nils Persson (1820–unknown)

Maria Jonsdotter (1833–1857) Olof Jonsson (1836–1870) Jan Jonsson (1840–1857)

children

Johannes Ostlund (1858–1934) Maria Ostlund (1860–1919) married Anders Alldrin (1858–1924) Nels Ostlund (1862–1938) married Marie Lundblad (1874–1965) Kajsa Ostlund (1865–1883) married Alick Olson (1861–1930) Johan Ostlund (1868–1907) married Annie Brooks (1868–unknown) Emil Ostlund (1872–1948) married Hulda Bachman (1884–1967)

38

THE EARLY OSTLUND ANCESTORS The Ostlund families’ ancestral farms of Langtjarn and Hedas can be found tucked away in the historical Swedish province of Värmland, near the parish town of Gräsmark and Sweden’s western border with Norway. Värmland boasts dense woodlands, lakes, streams, and moose. Its central valley lies along the Klaralven River, Sweden’s longest, which feeds into Lake Vanern near the city of Karlstad.

Four hundred years ago, a wave of Finnish immigrants settled this area by clearing large tracts of woodland with fire and cultivating the land that remained. They gradually assimilated into the native Swedish population and lost their unique language and unusual farming methods. Considering the Finnish roots in my DNA, there is probably some crossover with the “Forest Finns.”

Ostlund-line ownership of Langtjarn can be traced back to my fifth great-grandparents, Hendrick Jansson and Maria Langnas, in the early 1700s. For the next hundred and fifty years, the large farm functioned almost like a commune—three consecutive generations married another Langtjarn resident, and at any given time several related families were raising children side-by-side on the property. The farm is in a remote area where the walk to church was nearly ten miles each way!

The family presence at Hedas Farm goes back at least to my fourth great-grandparents, Olof Ellofson and Britta Jönsdotter, in the late 1700s. They both died relatively young, leaving two teenage daughters to care for their five-year-old brother Jons—my third great-grandfather. The girls worked on Hedas Farm and other nearby farms to support themselves.

The name “Ostlund” has no connection to Värmland, Langtjarn, or Hedas. My second great-

grandfather Jan came to America under the name Jan Henriksson, but after settling here changed his name to John Ostlund because, according to my grandmother, there were too many Henrikssons in town for the post office to sort the mail correctly.

THE CHURCH OF SWEDEN’S ROLE In late eighteenth-century Sweden, religious life was dominated by the state-affiliated Church of Sweden, which had been Lutheran since the Reformation in the early 1500s. The Church presided over the nation’s parishes, and from 1686 into the 1800s was tasked with maintaining Household Examination Records that detailed every household and individual, including births, deaths, property, church attendance, moral character, and biblical knowledge. Additionally, the Church was the only organization that could license a minister to preach in public or have a congregation in Sweden, and because of its ties to the government it used this power to suppress emigration.

Today, much of the ancestral knowledge that has made its way into our hands has come by way of these church records. But in the 1800s, the record examinations and the Church’s monopoly on ordination created a culture of religious repression that was especially intolerable to my second greatgrandparents’ generation. Although economic factors and the desire for new land to farm weighed heavily in many of my ancestors’ decisions to immigrate, many who left Sweden were also looking for a place to worship according to conscience.

JAN HENRIKSSON AND BRITTA JÖNSDOTTER Both Jan Henriksson and Britta Jönsdotter (my second great-grandparents) were born in Grasmark 39

and baptized at its Lutheran Parish Church, which has stood on the picturesque shore of Rottnen Lake since 1663. The couple left lives marked by great tragedy in Sweden, and their story exemplifies the hardships and sacrifices that made American pioneer life such a tempting prospect for so many Scandinavians during the late 1800s.

Jan was born in 1829, on Langtjarn Farm, to Henrik Jannson and Karin Svensdotter, and spent the first fifty-three years of his life there. Britta was born in 1830, on Hedas Farm, to Jons Olsson and Marit Henriksdotter, just a few miles away from Langtjarn. She and Jan were married in 1852. They had six children between 1858 and 1872, all born on Langtjarn—Johannes, Mary, Nels (my greatgrandfather), Kajsa, Johan, and Emil.

Jan, Britta, and their six children made the journey to America aboard the Christiana in 1882, during the decade that saw the highest number of Swedish immigrants to America—approximately 330,000. Sweden had seen widespread crop failures and a series of epidemics in the 1800s. Dysentery struck many pockets of the Swedish population, and was at times responsible for ninety percent of the deaths in a given parish.

Between 1856 and 1859, dysentery or some similar illness took nine of Jan and Britta’s family members: Jan’s two grown sisters, Maria and Kajsa; four of Maria’s five children; Britta’s father; and two of her three siblings. No doubt this series of tragedies, as well as the continuing specter of disease, contributed to Jan and Britta’s decision to move their family to the United States.

Britta’s remaining brother, Olof, died childless at age thirty-four, and that line would continue only in America. Maria’s surviving son, Johannes Jonsson, went on to marry Kasja Persdotter Lundell.

Once in America, John (his Americanized name) and Britta made their way to Hoffman, Minnesota.

In 1888, they bought an eighty-acre farm for $383, and in 1903 acquired the adjacent 240 acres of land for $2,000. They worked and lived on this farm for the next twenty years, until they died just five months apart in 1908.

JOHN & BRITTA’S CHILDREN John and Britta had six children. Upon their deaths in 1908, their son (my great-grandfather) Nels and his wife Marie (my great-grandmother) took over the Ostlund family farm and ran it for another twenty-two years.

John and Britta’s eldest son, Johannes, stayed on the Ostlund farm until he died unmarried at seventy-five. Their eldest daughter, Maria, married Anders Aldrin and moved to farm in Fresno, California. Their daughter, Kajsa, married Alick Olson, a blacksmith-shop owner in Chokio, Minnesota. Their son, Johan, became a welldigger in Chokio and married Annie Brooks. Their sixth and youngest son, Emil, moved to farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, and had ten children with his wife, Hulda Bachman.

40

John and Britta Ostlund with their son Emil

41

Grasmark Church, Grasmark, Sweden

John Ostlund’s Root Cellar at Langtjarn Farm in Grasmark, Sweden, Jerome and Jeff Olson

At the Myrle Farm in Torsby, Sweden Left to right: Front row: Birgitta Myrle, Thore Jonnson and his wife, Bjørn Ringen, Inger Backstrom Myrle, Amy Olson, Hannah Olson, Charles Olson and Jamie Olson. Back row: Ing Myrle, Alexander Myrle, Anna Myrle and her boyfriend Henrik, Jeff Olson, Ryan Olson and Bengt Perrson.

42

The Ostlund Farm, Hoffman, Minnesota

Map showing the location of the Ostlund farm in Hoffman, Minnesota 43

Descendants of Henrik Jansson and Karin Svensdotter Descendants of the Jansson Family

Henrik JANSSON

(1785 - 1844) Birth : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden

Maria HENRIKSDOTTER

Jon NILSSON

(1825 - 1859)

(1821 - 1887) Birth : Fryksande, Värmland, Sweden Death : Fryksande, Värmland, Sweden

Kajsa HENRIKSDOTTER

Karin SVENSDOTTER

(1785 - 1848) Birth : Långtjärn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden

Nils PERSSON

(1827 - 1857) Birth : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Varmland Death : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Varmland

(1820 - ) Birth : Torsby Fryksände

Johannes NILSSON

Jan HENRIKSSON OSTLUND

(1829 - 1908) Birth : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Hoffman, Minnesota

Britta JOHNDATTER

(1830 - 1908) Birth : Hedas, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Hoffman, Minnesota

Kaisa NILSDOTTER

(1847 - 1857)

(1850 - 1918)

Lars PERSSON

Johannes OSTLUND

(1842 - 1941)

Kajsa “Kate” OSTLUND

(1858 - 1934)

(1865 - 1945)

Emil OSTLUND

Alick OLSON

(1872 - 1948)

(1861 - 1930)

Hulda BACHMAN

(1882 - 1967)

Mary OSTLUND

Kajsa NILSSON

Peter Gottfrid PERSSON

(1850 - 1856)

(1892 - 1918)

(1860 - 1919)

Signe Kristina PERSSON

(1894 - 1964)

Anders Gustaf ALLDRIN

(1858 - 1924)

Clancy OLSON

Karolina PERSDOTTER

Mary OLSON (1887 - )

Arthur OLSON

(1888 - 1907)

(1852 - )

Florence Victoria OSTLUND

(1903 - 1987)

Delila OSTLUND

(1905 - 1991)

Ellen Henrietta OSTLUND

(1907 - 1992)

Nils NILSSON

(1853 - 1857)

Alma M. ALLDRIN

Per NILSSON

Linda ALLDRIN

(1887 - 1954)

(1894 - 1946)

Freda ALDRIN

(1895 - 1979)

Herman OLSON

(1892 - )

Axel OLSON

(c 1896 - )

Clarence OLSON

(1898 - 1927)

Archie Wallace OSTLUND

(1909 - 1985)

Wilfred OSTLUND Delrose Pauline OSTLUND

(1913 - 2008)

(1915 - 1998)

(1855 - 1949)

Karolina ERIKSDOTTER

(1863 - 1906)

Kajsa NILSSON

Louise Elvira OLSON

(1857 - 1857)

Minnie ALLDRIN

(1895 - 1972)

Edvin Natanael PERSSON

(1894 - 1978)

Petrus Fridolf PERSSON

(1898 - 1994)

Johannes Jonsson NILSSON

Kajsa Persdotter LUNDELL

(1898 - 1970)

George Richard Dewey ALLDRIN

(1901 - 1990)

Lillian OLSON

(1903 - )

Katrina PERSDOTTER

Isabelle Della OLSON

(1906 - 1927)

Katherine Pauline OSTLUND Dorothy Myrtle OSTLUND

(1917 - 1920)

(1919 - )

Alvira OSTLUND

(1922 - 2003)

(1901 - 1979)

Hedvig Naemi NILSSON

Johan OSTLUND

(1901 - 1999)

(1868 - 1907)

Annie DAHLGREN

Edla Verbena ALLDRIN

(1858 - 1942) (1855 - 1936)

Arthur G ALLDRIN

( 1868 - )

(1904 - 1953)

Lavaine Alner (Joe) OSTLUND

(1925 - 2015)

(1856 - 1935)

Nels Magnus OSTLUND

(1862 - 1938)

Marie LUNDBLAD

(1874 - 1965)

Hilda Maria

(1882 - 1953)

Karl Wilhelm JOHANNESSON

(1889 - 1968)

Nils Oskar JONSSON

(1884 - 1955)

Johan Alfred JONSSON

Per Gustav JONSSON

(1881 - 1962)

Alfred OSTLUND

(1886 - 1972)

Anna Kristina JONSSON

(1893 - 1958)

Oscar OSTLUND

Victor OSTLUND

(1894 - 1933)

(1895 - 1974)

(1894 - 1976)

Edwin OSTLUND

Olof Edvin JONSSON

Clara OSTLUND

(1897 - 1897)

Theodore OSTLUND

(1898 - 1899)

(1900 - 1900)

John OSTLUND

(1901 - 1942)

Alice OSTLUND

(1895 - 1984)

Clarence OSTLUND

(1897 - 1973)

Howard OSTLUND

(1903 - 1979)

Arthur OSTLUND

(1901 - 1901)

(1896 - 1896)

Aldrich OSTLUND

(1902 - 1995)

Esther Otilia OSTLUND

(1905 - 1981)

Frances Pauline OSTLUND

(1909 - 1991)

Edythe OSTLUND

(1913 - 2002)

44

Harold OSTLUND

(1907 - 1989)

Family ChartMasters

Family ChartMasters

Descendants of the Olsson Family

Descendants of Jons Olsson and Marit Henriksdotter

Jons OLSSON

(1807 - 1857) Death : Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden

Britta JOHNDATTER

Marit HENRIKSDOTTER

(1799 - 1871) Death : Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden

Jan HENRIKSSON OSTLUND

(1830 - 1908) Birth : Hedas, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Hoffman, Minnesota

Maria JONSDOTTER

(1829 - 1908) Birth : Langtjarn, Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Hoffman, Minnesota

(1833 - 1857) Birth : Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden

Johannes OSTLUND

Olof JONSSON

(1836 - 1870) Birth : Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden

Jan OLSSON

(1840 - 1857) Birth : Grasmark, Värmland, Sweden Death : Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden

Kajsa “Kate” OSTLUND

(1858 - 1934)

(1865 - 1945)

Emil OSTLUND

Alick OLSON

(1872 - 1948)

(1861 - 1930)

Hulda BACHMAN

(1882 - 1967)

Mary OSTLUND

(1860 - 1919)

Anders Gustaf ALLDRIN

(1858 - 1924)

Clancy OLSON

Alma M. ALLDRIN

Linda ALLDRIN

(1887 - 1954)

(1894 - 1946)

Freda ALDRIN

(1895 - 1979)

Herman OLSON

(1892 - )

Louise Elvira OLSON

Minnie ALLDRIN

(1895 - 1972)

Arthur G ALLDRIN

(1898 - 1970)

George Richard Dewey ALLDRIN

(1901 - 1990)

Mary OLSON (1887 - )

Axel OLSON

(c 1896 - )

Lillian OLSON

(1903 - )

Arthur OLSON

(1888 - 1907)

Clarence OLSON

(1898 - 1927)

Florence Victoria OSTLUND

(1903 - 1987)

Archie Wallace OSTLUND

(1909 - 1985)

Delila OSTLUND

(1905 - 1991)

Ellen Henrietta OSTLUND

(1907 - 1992)

Wilfred OSTLUND Delrose Pauline OSTLUND

(1913 - 2008)

(1915 - 1998)

Isabelle Della OLSON

(1906 - 1927)

Katherine Pauline OSTLUND Dorothy Myrtle OSTLUND

(1917 - 1920)

(1919 - )

Alvira OSTLUND

(1922 - 2003)

(1901 - 1979)

Johan OSTLUND

(1868 - 1907)

Annie DAHLGREN

Edla Verbena ALLDRIN

( 1868 - )

(1904 - 1953)

Lavaine Alner (Joe) OSTLUND

(1925 - 2015)

Nels Magnus OSTLUND

(1862 - 1938)

Marie LUNDBLAD

(1874 - 1965)

Alfred OSTLUND

(1893 - 1958)

Oscar OSTLUND

Victor OSTLUND

(1894 - 1933)

(1895 - 1974)

Edwin OSTLUND

Theodore OSTLUND

(1898 - 1899)

Aldrich OSTLUND

(1902 - 1995)

(1900 - 1900)

Esther Otilia OSTLUND

(1905 - 1981)

Frances Pauline OSTLUND

(1909 - 1991)

Clara OSTLUND

(1897 - 1897)

John OSTLUND

(1901 - 1942)

Alice OSTLUND

(1895 - 1984)

Clarence OSTLUND

(1897 - 1973)

Howard OSTLUND

(1903 - 1979)

Arthur OSTLUND

(1901 - 1901)

Harold OSTLUND

(1907 - 1989)

Edythe OSTLUND

Family ChartMasters

(1913 - 2002)

45

Family ChartMasters

Chapter 4: The Lundblad Line Karl Johan Lundblad, John Johnson, & Lena Olsdotter

Karl Lundblad

Lena Olsdotter

born

born

July 6, 1845, Farnebo, Fillipstad Parish, Värmland, Sweden

March 18, 1851, Fryksande, Sweden

died

died

November 26, 1882, Torsby, Sweden

May 7, 1932, Hackensack, Minnesota

buried

buried

Torsby, Sweden

Hillcrest Cemetery, Hackensack, Minnesota

father

father

Charlotta Nilsson (1820–1893)

Olof Mattson (1831–1910)

mother

mother

Jan Olsson (1814–1895)

Marit Markusdotter (1810–1889)

baptized

baptized

Farnebo

Lutheran Parish Church, Fryksande

immigrated

immigrated

Did not immigrate

1886

siblings

siblings

Carl Johan Lundblad (1843–1844) Johan Lundblad (1847–1904) married Amalia Jonasdotter (1850– 1881) and Maria Andersdotter (1860–unknown) Axel Lundblad (1850–unknown) Sophia Lundblad (1853–1947) married Olof Lillberg (1844–1925) August Lundblad (1856–unknown) Anders Lundblad (1859– unknown)

Maria Andersdotter Aldrin (1841–unknown) Marit Persdotter (1844–1876) married Anders Aldrin (1843–1880) Nils Andersson Aldrin (1845–1912) married Maria Olsdotter (1857–1935) Christina Olsdotter (1853–1942)

children

Marie Lundblad (1874–1965) married Nels Ostlund (1862–1938) Carl Lundblad (1876–1907) with J ohn J ohnson : Clara Johnson (1887–1966) married Nels Frykman (1871–1951) Alma Johnson (1889–1963) married Ludwig Erickson (1893–1965) Selma Johnson (1890–1982) married Arne Carlson (1896–1975) Bror Johnson (1893–1975) married Frances Page (1894–1987) 46

THE EARLY LUNDBLAD ANCESTORS In Värmland, Sweden, the Lundblad line can be traced back to the parishes of Fryksände and Färnebo. Färnebo is about fifty miles southeast of Gräsmark, and was first populated as a mining and agricultural area in the 1500s, when it was found to be exceptionally rich in iron ore. My third greatgrandparents, Jan Olsson (who began using the name Lundblad as an adult) and Charlotta Nilsson, moved to the Långbanshyttan farm in Färnebo in 1846. Fryksände is about twenty miles north of Gräsmark near Torsby and on the northern shore of Övre Fryken Lake.

My third great-grandfather on the Olsdotter side, Olof Mattson, was an eighteen-year-old farmhand when he had a child with Marit Markusdotter, a thirty-nine-year-old widow with three children who had just inherited Thorsby Bruk farm in Fryksände.

That child was my second great-grandmother, Lena Olsdotter.

As a young, single woman in the mid-1830s, Marit had gone to work at Thorsby Bruk for Anders Aldrin (many in my family believe the astronaut Buzz Aldrin is related to him) and his wife, Kari.

A few years after Marit’s arrival, Kari died, leaving her husband and three young children behind, and in 1840 young Marit married her widowed employer. They had three children of their own, but Anders died six years later, and Marit’s fourth child was fathered by young farmhand Olof—quite the Swedish stud. They were married shortly afterwards and had another child, Christina. In contrast to the surrounding stories of death met with remarriage, Olof remained a widower for the rest of his life after Marit died at age seventy-nine in 1889.

LENA OLSDOTTER & KARL LUNDBLAD My second great-grandmother, Lena Olsdotter, was born to Olof and Marit in 1851 and grew up on Thorsby Bruk. At age twenty-two, she married my second great-grandfather, Karl Lundblad. Karl was a miller like his father, and when he was twentyseven he had gone to live at Röbjörkeby Farm in Fryksände near Thorsby Bruk. Lena and Karl were married in 1873. A year later they had a daughter, Marie Lundblad (my great-grandmother), and three years later they had a son, Carl Johan Lundblad. In 1882, Karl died in an accident at the mill, leaving Lena to fend for herself with two young children.

As seen in Marit’s life, Swedish widows and widowers rarely went unmarried for long— operating a farm required the work of a whole family, and being part of a farm family gave security to those bound to it by blood or vows. So three years later, Lena agreed to journey to America and marry John Johnson, a widowed immigrant farmer whom she’d known in her hometown. In 1886, she and her two children boarded a ship called the Romeo to make their way to America and join him.

Lena brought several items with her across the Atlantic: her steamer trunk, her pressing iron, and the precious spinning wheel that she was forced to chop apart for the voyage because of space limitations on the cramped ship. She painstakingly rebuilt it once she arrived in America, and carried it with her for the rest of her life.

LENA & JOHN JOHNSON Lena’s new husband, John Johnson, had been born in 1838, in the same Swedish parish as Lena— Fryksände. He had a twin brother, Nils, another brother, Per, and two sisters, Karin and Kerstin.

47

Lena’s spinning wheel which she had to cut in half for the trip to America

Kerstin was known for smoking a corncob pipe and I’ve gotten to know her wonderful great-grandaughter Claudia Linth through our research process.

John Johnson’s first wife, Marit Larsdotter, died at thirty-seven, leaving her husband with five children between the ages of four and fourteen.

Four years later, John took his children and struck out for America on the word of his cousins, who had settled in Minnesota and found it to be a place of unparalleled opportunity.

Once they had landed on U.S. shores, the family made their way to Barrett, thirteen miles southwest of Brandon, where the Olson and Berg families had settled around a decade earlier. In Barrett, John bought a plot of land from the railroad company and built a dugout house—a style common among pioneers on midwestern prairies where wood was extremely scarce. A dugout is built into the excavated lee side of a hill, with only one “wall” exposed and little lumber needed for its construction. The Johnsons’ dugout was more elaborate than some, with an entrance room, a large underground main room, and a cellar.

After four hard years working the farm with only his children, John Johnson arranged to marry Lena. According to the couple’s granddaughter

Gladys, “With love and delight John Johnson sent for Lena from Skattijare in Karlstad and she arrived in Evansville, Minnesota, in November 1886.” John met her at the train station, and they were married less than two weeks later. The couple had another four children, and ran the farm together for fourteen years before John died in 1900 at sixty-two.

John was carried to his final resting place at the Zionsborg Church cemetery by his farm-horses, Sam and King. Carl Lundblad—the eldest child at thirty-three, and Lena’s son from her marriage to Karl Lundblad—took over the farm until his premature death in 1907 from food poisoning. In 1921, Lena moved (with her spinning wheel) to Hackensack, Minnesota, where she died in 1932.

The spinning wheel is now with Lena’s greatgranddaughter, Colleen Rohloff.

LENA’S DESCENDANTS Lena had six children: Marie and Carl with Karl Lundblad, and Clara, Alma, Selma, and Bror with John Johnson. Since Carl Lundblad died early and childless, the Lundblad line continued through Lena’s daughter (and my great-grandmother), Marie Lundblad, who married Nels Ostlund from Hoffman, Minnesota.

48

Marie and Nels Ostlund had eleven children, all raised on the Ostlund farm. Their eldest son, Oscar, took over the farm in 1930 and ran it for three years, but in 1933 he fell off their windmill and died, leaving his wife, Esther, and infant son, Robert, behind.

Marie and Nels’ son Victor became owner of The Ostlund Hardware Store in Evansville. The next four of Marie and Nels’ children—Clara, Edwin, Arthur, and Theodore—all died as infants. Their seventh child, Aldrich, was elected Registrar of Deeds for Douglas County. He married Eva Weaver in 1924, and after she died in 1986 he married Lillian Engstrom. Marie and Nels’ eighth child, Esther, married Elmer Bjurlin and eventually took over the Johnson farm in Barrett, where Lena Lundblad had lived. Their ninth child, Harold, married Elvira Holing, my great-aunt, whose family research has been so helpful in this project. After brother Oscar’s death, Harold and Elvira moved onto the Ostlund family farm, and Elvira became a teacher in a oneroom schoolhouse nearby. Marie and Nels’ tenth child, daughter Frances, also became a teacher and married Douglas Hiram Walter. They raised their family in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Their eleventh and last child was my grandmother, Edythe, who went on to marry Elroy Olson.

49

Lena Olsdotter’s farm, Torsby, Sweden

50

Röbjörkeby Farm, Värmland, Sweden: The farm where Lena, Karl and their two children Mary and Carl lived before Karl died

Fryksande Church

51

John Johnson family –1899 John, Clara (Frykman), Aldrich, Alma (Erickson), Lena –seated –front, Selma (Carlson)

52

Four generations – Lena Olsdotter, Marie Lundblad, Victor Ostlund and Elda Ostlund

53

Descendants Jan Olsson Lundblad and Charlotta “Lotta” Nilsson

Descendants of the Lundblad Family Jan OLSSON LUNDBLAD

Charlotta “Lotta” NILSSON

(1814 - 1895) Birth : Sunne, Värmland, Sweden Death : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

Carl Johan LUNDBLAD

(1843 - 1844) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden Death : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

Karl Johan LUNDBLAD

Lena Mattson OLSDOTTER

(1845 - 1882) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden Death : Torsby, Sweden

(1851 - 1932) Birth : Fryksände, Sverige Death : Hackensack, Minnesota, USA

Maria ANDERSDOTTER

Johan LUNDBLAD

(1860 - )

(1847 - 1904) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden Death : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

(1820 - 1893) Birth : Karlstad, Värmland, Sweden Death : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

Amalia JONASDOTTER

(1850 - 1881) Birth : Nyed, Värmland, Sweden Death : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

Ester Teresia Johansdotter LUNDBLAD

Marie LUNDBLAD

(1874 - 1965)

Sophia LUNDBLAD

(1853 - ) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

August LUNDBLAD

(1856 - ) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

Anders Gustaf JANSSON LUNDBLAD

(1859 - ) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

(1875 - 1934)

(1871 - )

Hilda Carolina DAMBERG

(1876 - 1956)

Karl Johan FINNEMAN

(1862 - 1938)

Olof Olsson LILLBERG

(1844 - 1925) Birth : Ostra Amtervik, Värmland, Sweden Death : Ostra Amtervik, Värmland, Sweden

Oskar LILLBERG

Fritz Thedor Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1883 - 1942)

Nels Magnus OSTLUND

Axel LUNDBLAD

(1850 - ) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden

(1880 - 1953)

Jenny Kristina Johansdotter LUNDBLAD

Augusta Amalia Johansdotter LUNDBLAD

(1884 - 1885)

(1873 - 1936)

Oscar OSTLUND

Victor OSTLUND

(1894 - 1933)

(1895 - 1974)

Otto Verner Olsson DAHLMAN

Clara OSTLUND

(1897 - 1897)

(1871 - 1950)

Hugo LILLBERG

(1920 - 1990)

Axel Birger Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1885 - 1886)

Edwin OSTLUND

Theodore OSTLUND

(1898 - 1899)

(1900 - 1900)

Arthur OSTLUND

Otto Verner DAHLMAN

(1901 - 1901)

(1899 - )

Gerda Amalia DAHLMAN

(1901 - )

Ellen Elvira DAHLMAN

(1903 - )

Axel Birger Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1887 - 1947)

Ingrid Teresia

(1893 - 1975)

Aldrich OSTLUND

(1902 - 1995)

Esther Otilia OSTLUND

(1905 - 1981)

Harold OSTLUND

Fritz Teodor DAHLMAN Berta Maria DAHLMAN

(1907 - 1989)

(1905 - 1990)

(1908 - 1978)

Signe Augusta DAHLMAN

(1912 - 1988)

Ernest Adolf Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1888 - )

Sofia Elvira Johansdotter LUNDBLAD

Matilda Elisabet BAD

Frances Pauline OSTLUND

(1909 - 1991)

(1876 - )

(1891 - )

Edythe OSTLUND

(1913 - 2002)

Carl Johan LUNDBLAD

Johan August Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1876 - 1907)

(1878 - )

Iris Elisabet LUNDBLAD Eivor Ingeborg LUNDBLAD Astrid Cecelia LUNDBLAD

(1914 - )

(1916 - )

(1919 - )

Karl Robert LUNDBLAD

Gustaf Oskar Johansson LUNDBLAD

(1891 - )

(1881 - )

Anton Gottfrid LUNDBLAD

(1896 - 1916)

Family ChartMasters

54

Family ChartMasters

Descendants of the Mattsson Family

Descendants of Olof Mattsson and Marit Markusdotter

Olof MATTSSON

Marit MARKUSDOTTER

(1831 - 1910) Birth : Fryksände, Värmland, Sverige Death : Fryksände, Värmland, Sverige

Karl Johan LUNDBLAD

Lena Mattson OLSDOTTER

(1845 - 1882) Birth : Farnebo, Värmland, Sweden Death : Torsby, Sweden

(1851 - 1932) Birth : Fryksände, Sverige Death : Hackensack, Minnesota, USA

(1810 - 1889) Birth : Kiltorp

John JOHNSON BERGEBY

Clara Willhelmina JOHNSON

(1887 - 1966)

Nels Magnus OSTLUND

(1871 - 1951)

Nels Johan FRYKMAN

(1862 - 1938)

Oscar OSTLUND

Victor OSTLUND

(1895 - 1974)

(1853 - 1942) Birth : Fryksande, Värmland, Sweden Death : Fryksande, Värmland, Sweden

Marie LUNDBLAD

(1874 - 1965)

(1894 - 1933)

Christina OLSDOTTER

(1838 - 1900) Birth : Fryksände Death : Barrett, Grant County, Minnesota, USA

Clara OSTLUND

(1897 - 1897)

Alice Josephine FRYKMAN

(1916 - 1973)

Alvin Rudolph FRYKMAN

(1917 - 2000)

Alma V. JOHNSON

(1889 - 1963)

Edwin OSTLUND

Theodore OSTLUND

(1898 - 1899)

Aldrich OSTLUND

(1902 - 1995)

(1900 - 1900)

Esther Otilia OSTLUND

(1905 - 1981)

Ludwig M. ERICKSON

Arthur OSTLUND

(1893 - 1965)

(1901 - 1901)

Harold OSTLUND

(1907 - 1989)

Gladys Evangeline ERICKSON

(1919 - 2015)

Kenneth Lloyd ERICKSON

(1923 - 1999)

Selma H JOHNSON

Frances Pauline OSTLUND

(1909 - 1991)

(1890 - 1982)

Edythe OSTLUND

(1913 - 2002)

Arne CARLSON

(1896 - 1975)

Carl Johan LUNDBLAD

(1876 - 1907)

Albert CARLSON

Hans CARLSON

(1923 - 2001)

(1926 - 1976)

Walter CARLSON

(1928 - 2008)

Bror Aldrich JOHNSON

(1893 - 1975)

Frances Emily PAGE

(1894 - 1987)

Elaine Almeda JOHNSON

(1919 - 1999)

55

Wilbert JOHNSON

(1921 - 1998)

Asenath JOHNSON

(1933 - 2015)

Family ChartMasters

Family ChartMasters

Conclusion

It has only been one hundred and fifty years since John Olson and thousands like him laid claim to uncultivated land in the wide open American West.

They farmed it as their parents and grandparents had in the old country—solely with the strength of horses, oxen, and their own bodies. The world has since become a smaller, faster place. Compare the excruciating slowness and uncertainty of travel and communication our immigrant ancestors faced with the near-instantaneous digital connections and transatlantic airliners of today!

My grandfather’s grandparents—John and Sophie, and Ellef and Petrine—left their ancestral Norwegian homes young, unmarried, and full of adventurous hope. John and Sophie were born almost three hundred miles apart in Norway, and would likely never have met if they hadn’t immigrated. Ellef and Petrine were both born in Åsen, but they married in America. Most importantly to our family, the two couples settled within a mile of each other in Brandon, Minnesota.

My grandmother’s grandparents—John and Britta, and Lena—traveled to America from Sweden later in their lives and under more dire circumstances. They sought new lives for their families on the frontier because the lives they’d built in Sweden had been shattered by the deaths of loved ones. They were all born within a hundred miles of one another in Värmland, and ended up farming in the towns of Hoffman and Barrett, Minnesota, both thirteen miles from Brandon.

My grandfather’s parents, Henry and Jenny Olson, raised my grandfather, Elroy, and his six

siblings on their family farm in Brandon (after proving up a homestead in North Dakota), and my grandmother’s parents, Nels and Marie Ostlund, raised my grandmother, Edythe, and her ten siblings on their family farm in Hoffman. Elroy and Edythe met at a dance, and raised their four children, including my father, Jerome, in Minnesota and Washington. Jerome married my mother, Susan Paige, and they raised my siblings and me in Olney, Maryland. My mother is a thirdgeneration Sicilian whose ancestry will be covered in its own book.

When my parents met in the summer of 1964, they were engaged within six weeks and married over Valentine’s Day weekend the following year.

Thirty years later, in 1994, my wife Amy and I met in the summer, got engaged six weeks later, and were married over Valentine’s Day weekend of the next year, replicating my parents’ leap of faith into what became a loving and beautiful partnership. While none of our optimistic gambles quite approached our ancestors’ decisions to start lives completely anew in America, the ability to take a leap of faith was undoubtedly something my immigrant second great-grandparents had in generous amounts and passed down to us.

It’s hard to imagine the courage and determination they must have possessed to upend their lives so completely, or the sadness they must have felt at the prospect of likely never seeing their Scandinavian family or neighbors again. Only if our family’s future generations are among the first to colonize new planets will we again know the 56

painful distance our ancestors felt on the American frontier, and why they settled near others from their native towns.

But above all, our immigrant ancestors’ willingness to take such a risk was matched by their tenacity and grit in following it through. Each of our first-generation families triumphed over the challenges of pioneer life to put down roots that have only reached wider and grown deeper in the century and a half during which our family has spread across the United States and beyond.

Jeffrey Scott Olson (or, Jeffrey Jeromesen Olney) New York, NY March 2020

57

A PERSONAL NOTE I encourage all members of our family to continue learning more about our past, and to build new and closer relationships with one another based on that knowledge. The complete Olson Family Tree is available on Ancestry.com. Please email any questions, corrections, additions, and photos to me at jolson.nyc@gmail.com.

The genetic tools and information networks of today have enabled us to trace our family tree with enormous scope and detail, and the same is possible for other families who wish to uncover their shared histories. I hope this book, and the research that went into it, will serve as an inspiration for similar projects and the rekindling of many long-lost, globespanning connections.

This journey through my ancestry would not have been possible without Bjørn Ringen, my sixth cousin. His contagious personality, sense of adventure and enthusiasm for discovering our ancestors was invaluable. I would also like to acknowledge those who helped in this book, including the team at Ancestry.com (George Ott, Bradley Marchant, and Sandy Olney), writer and editor Fen Inman, designer Alex Van Dorp, historians Arne Langäs, Alastair Brown, and Heidi Beistad, and numerous relatives—Bjørn Ringen, Roald Bergstrom, Andreas Bergstrom Aarnseth, Bobbie Olson, Paulette Westberg, Grace Heinrich, Claudia Smith, Inger Bäckström, Anna Myrle, Diane Doern, and many others.

My heartfelt thanks to you all.

58

A ppendix

59

Henry Olson

Jennie Berg

born

born

September 2, 1874, Minneapolis, Minnesota

June 23, 1879, Brandon, Minnesota

died

died

December 11, 1948, Brandon, Minnesota

February 15, 1958, Brandon, Minnesota

buried

buried

Brandon Cemetery, Brandon, Minnesota

Brandon Cemetery, Brandon, Minnesota

father

father

Johan Olesen (1839–1909)

Ellef Bergh (1849-1906)

mother

mother

Sophie Tomte (1847–1927)

Petrine Melhus (1850-1933)

siblings

siblings

Jensine Olson (1876–1914) married Peder Hanson (1858–1927) Ludwick Olson (1878–1881) Magda Olson (1882–1964) married John Halgrimson (1865–1937)

Peter Berg (1875-1938) married Hilda Elnes (1884-1907) Minda Berg (1877-1951) married Eldor Hanson (1862-1953) Emil Bergh (1882-1948) married Magnhild Strom (1883-1972) John Bergh (1883-1947) married Olga Reinhold (1896-1976) children

Jennings Olson (1926–1975) married Lillie Engness (1905–2001) Harvey Olson (1903–1980) Lila Olson (1906–1997) Elroy Olson (1908–1994) married Edythe Ostlund (1913–2002) Clarence Olson (1911–2000) married Esther Lund (1915–1993) Glenn Olson (1912–1979) married Beulah Alberts (1919–2002) Alphild Olson (1916–1938)

60

Wedding of Henry Olson and Jennie Berg, 1900

61

Henry and Jennie’s 25th Wedding Anniversary, 1925

62

Jennie and Henry Olson, 1946

63

The Olson Family - Jennie, Jennings, Harvey, Lila, Elroy, Clarence and Glen

64

Jennie, Harvey, Henry, Elroy, and Lila with Jerome and Darrel Olson

65

Nels Ostlund

Marie Lundblad

born

born

September 3, 1862, Grasmark, Sweden

August 9, 1874, Fryksande, Sweden

died

died

February 12, 1938, Barrett, Minnesota

April 29, 1965, Seattle, Washington

buried

buried

Barrett Covenant Cemetery, Barrett, Minnesota

Barrett Covenent Cemetery, Barrett, Minnesota

father

father

Jan Henriksson Ostlund (1829–1908)

Karl Lundblad (1845–1882)

mother

mother

Jan Olsson (1814–1895)

Lena Olsdotter (1851–1932)

baptized

baptized

Grasmark, Sweden

Fryksande, Sweden

siblings

siblings

Johannes Ostlund (1858–1934) Maria Ostlund (1860–1919) married Anders Alldrin (1858–1924) Kajsa Ostlund (1865–1883) married Alick Olson (1861–1930) Johan Ostlund (1868–1907) married Annie Brooks (1868–unknown) Emil Ostlund (1872–1948) married Hulda Bachman (1884–1967)

Carl Johan Lundblad (1876–1907) Clara Johnson (1887–1966) married Nels Frykman (1871–1951) Alma Johnson (1889–1963) married Ludwig Erickson (1893–1965) Selma Johnson (1890–1982) married Arne Carlson (1896–1975) Bror Johnson (1893–1975) married Frances Page (1894–1987)

children

Oscar Ostlund (1894–1933) married Esther Nelson (1904–1978) Victor Ostlund (1895–1974) married Esther Olson (1898–1981 Clara Ostlund (1898–1898) Edwin Ostlund (1898–1898) Arthur Ostlund (1900–1900) Theodore Ostlund (1901–1901)) Aldrich Ostlund (1902–1995) married Eva Weaver (1903–1987) Esther Ostlund (1905–1981) married Elmer Bjurlin (1910–1993) Harold Ostlund (1907–1989) married Elvira Holing (1905–1997) Frances Ostlund (1909–1991) married Douglas Walter (1909–1982) Edythe Ostlund (1913–2002) married Elroy Olson (1908–1994) 66

Nels and Marie Ostlund’s Family

67

Nels Ostlund

68

Marie Lundblad

69

Nels and Marie Ostlund

70

The Ostlund Family Standing: Esther, Oscar, Harold, Edythe, and Frances Sitting: Nels, Victor, Aldrich, and Marie

71

Elroy Olson

Edythe Ostlund

born

born

June 16, 1908, Wildrose, North Dakota

December 18, 1913, Hoffman, Minnesota

died

died

May 3, 1994, Marysville, Washington

October 7, 2002, Marysville, Washington

buried

buried

Marysville, Washington

Marysville, Washington

father

father

Henry Olson (1874–1948)

Nels Ostlund (1862–1938)

mother

mother

Jensine Berg (1879–1958)

Marie Lundblad (1874–1965)

baptized

baptized

Wildrose, North Dakota

Hoffman, Minnesota

siblings

siblings

Jennings Olson (1926–1975) married Lily Engness (1905–2001) Harvey Olson (1903–1980) Lila Olson (1906–1997) Clarence Olson (1911–2000) married Esther Lund (1915–1993) Glenn Olson (1912–1979) married Beulah Alberts (1919–2002) Evelyn Alphild Olson (1916–1938)

Oscar Ostlund (1894–1933) married Esther Nelson (1904–1978) Victor Ostlund (1895–1974) married Esther Olson (1898–1981 Clara Ostlund (1898–1898) Edwin Ostlund (1898–1898) Arthur Ostlund (1900–1900) Theodore Ostlund (1901–1901)) Aldrich Ostlund (1902–1995) married Eva Weaver (1903–1987) Esther Ostlund (1905–1981) married Elmer Bjurlin (1910–1993) Harold Ostlund (1907–1989) married Elvira Holing (1905–1997) Frances Ostlund (1909–1991) married Douglas Walter (1909–1982)

children

Jerome Olson (1937– ) married Susan Paige (1941–2015) Darrel Olson (1941–2014) married Linda Rochon (1944– ) and Sue Pittman (1938– ) Diane Olson (1945– ) married Jack Walkley (1943– ) and Edwin Doern (1947– ) Larry Olson (1952– ) married Chris Long (1954– ) and Robyn Perin (1957– ) 72

The Family of Elroy and Edythe Olson Left to right: Darrel, Jerome, Elroy, Larry, Edythe, and Diane

73

Elroy and Edythe Olson, 1936

74

Elroy and Edythe Olson, circa 1990

75

Elroy and Edythe’s Grandkids Left to right: Nikki Olson, Lisa Walkley, Wendy Olson, Erik Olson, Jon Walkley, Brian Olson and Jeff Olson

76

Jerome and Susan Olson

77

The Olson Family From left to right: Wendy, Susan, Jeff, Jerome and Erik

78

The Olson Family Left to right: Jeff, Erik, Jerome, Susan and Wendy

79

Jeff and Amy’s Family Left to right: Hannah, Jeff, Amy, Charles, Jamie and Ryan

80

Jerome and his grandkids Back row; left to right: Paige, Kelly, Caleb, Hannah, Charles and Ryan Front row: Andy, Jamie and Jerome

81

82

LET T ER FRO M LOVIS E Ø VERBY TO HE LE NE SO FIE H A LVO RS DAT T ER T Ø MT E

31 May 1883

from the living room where I’m sitting, I can see the fjord, it’s

Dear Sofie!

laying gracefully and have a mirror like surface. The grass and the hardwood forest are blooming. I hear birdsong all

I give you my heartfelt thanks for your letter and the

around me.

attached photography. It was really a pleasure to receive both.

When you receive this letter, I hope that Olave has arrived

It has been many years and much have changed both in your

safely. You must convey my greetings to her, and say that she

life and in mine, since we played together at Lid. I see from your

must tell me all about her travel. I often think about her.

letter that I don’t have to remind you of our happy childhood

I would be very happy to receive a letter from you again.

and the joy we had together, we had fun more than once.

Please accept the attached photography, you probably don’t

At Lid, there’s been some major changes, both my parents

recognize me? Say hello to Agnete from me. Live well for now,

died 3 years ago. They were buried very shortly after each

warmest regards from your childhood friend.

other, and only 14 days thereafter, my sister Laura died. That was honestly a dark period for us who were left behind, but

Lovise Øverby

praise the Lord for all he has done, everything is good. We are glad they died believing in our savior Jesus Christ, they are destined for eternal beatitude. Jesus said: “Those who believe shall be saved.” Therefore, the grief was not bitter, but I still miss them heavily.

Lid has been sold to one Valders, it’s been almost a year since the last time I was there. I will soon go to the cemetery and visit our graves, and I will then visit Lid as well. I must also write something about myself, it’s been 8 years this fall since we married. We have only one child (a boy) who will be 7 years this fall, he hasn’t had any other education besides what I have read to him. If XXX(God?) make him progress even further, I believe he may become a clever boy.

I am overall good, thanks to God. We XXX six people daily, Øverby, XXXX, myself, two salesmen and one XXX. And since we don’t have any creatures besides one horse, you realize we live quietly and peacefully. We have plenty to do, since it’s that kind of business, on XXX there are many strangers, and in the summer during the holidays, our family visits us.

Hansine was married to Lien from Land last year. They live at a glasswork close to Kristiania. Their life is very good.

I haven’t visited them yet. I’ve been promised a trip to the city in the summer. And I will at the same time attend my brother Kristoffer’s marriage. I wish you could come here, if only for a short visit. You would see how lovely the nature is. Precisely 83

84

LET T ER FRO M M ARGA RET H E BJERKEN TO HE LE NE SO FIE H ALVO RS DAT T ER T Ø MT E

1912 Dear Sofie,

live in Minneapolis. Her husband is Jakob Hafstad.

They were both too dignified to wash a dish. Last year’s harvest was excellent, both grain and potatoes.

We haven’t seen such nice weather in a long time. The prices are good for the products that farmers sell. The prices for hay and straw are pretty outrageous.

We have a women’s organization which meets every two weeks. We work to make things for the heathen mission in Madagascar. We have a bazaar once a year.

The vicar’s wife is an organizer of the bazaar. Her brother is a priest there. He’s currently visiting here, because he got sick from working too much. He’s going to return when he recovers. These missionaries have a lot to preach, I once listened to him in our church, when he talked about their life. There is a book, written by Johnson, named “Halvveis.” It has been read on the woman’s organization’s meetings. It describes their life and the heathens, it’s really moving.

Serine heard from Anna Bjerken where she says she’s planning to visit here. Is she travelling alone or with her children?

What happened to the boy who hurt another?

Was he punished? The mother must be in pain.

Convey greetings to her from Peter Skillesvald, he is starting to get frail. Anna is not doing great. I think it’s unbearable, they are all by themselves and it’s very dirty there. He’s so careful with the money, and lives poorly. It’s almost impossible to have a cup of coffee there.

I see Henrik has been visiting. How does he like Dakota? I assume he has built a house. Say hello to him from me next time you write. I would like to send a photo of Johanna’s children. I have asked for it, but it always gets postponed. It is so difficult to ask for Josi’s portrait. It must have been difficult to not be able to keep her. The Lord’s will is not our own.

Your beloved letter dated 8/1 arrived a week ago, and for that I say thank you. It was sad when I opened the letter and saw the pretty gravestone where under my dear brother is resting. I am sending you my heartfelt thanks. I hope that he’s now with his Lord and Savior. I hope that we can be gathered together in heaven. I’m going to hang this stone picture on the wall with the photos of my mother and father, as well as the church. With regards to myself, I am kind of good. I’ve been a little sick this winter, feeling tired and dull, and sometimes despondent because I’m all by myself in my little living room. When Johanna comes here she’s usually busy with lots of things to do. I think she is working too much. I’ll go there now and then, but I don’t like it there, I guess there could be many reasons for that.

I am supposed to tell you hello from Johanna. They have a teacher during the winter, because Aslaug is having a hard time getting to school, she needs a lot of help. She walks on crutches, I feel so bad for her, I cannot describe it with words. She is however very spirited despite her condition. She was with me for eight days at Christmas time, we enjoy each other’s company. The Lord has blessed her with a quick mind. Two of Jon’s children are in school. Two are from the neighboring farm Rusgården. Aslaug will turn twelve in September. Johannes is nine. Harald is five. Gudrun will be three in the fall. She’s a really busy child.

This summer, Eide had “great visitors.” That’s what I call it because I thought they were quite big.

They stayed almost until Christmas. They went to Oslo to stay for the winter. She is Jon’s sister. They

85

86

It is comforting for us to think about the friends we have lost to Heaven, that we will meet them again.

My loved ones and old friends have all passed. It’s just Johanna and Jenny left. It’s not long between each time Jenny is home. She says she wants to quit at Muller’s, but I don’t want that. Her mother is a maid in Kristiania, she wants her to come there. I cannot understand why that should be better. She would be forced to work as a maid. She will not have the Christian circle that she has now. Then we need lots of wood, it’s very expensive. I’m supposed to get wood from Solberg, but he’s not doing a very good job at that. I can get wood from Jon sometimes when time allows. You must write me a letter when you find the time. Tell me if it’s Anna Bjerken’s intention to visit in the summer. But most importantly tell me how you and your children are, it makes me so happy. Say hello to Henrik, who’s so far away. I often think about how fun it would have been to visit you. Heartfelt greetings from me, Live Well, Margrethe Bjerken I was at Eide’s yesterday evening. Aslaug was a little sick, she easily catches cold, and she cannot stand it.

87

88

LET T ER FRO M JENNY BJERKEN TO HE LE NE SOFIE H ALVO RS DAT T ER T Ø MT E

Bjerken, 9 July 1913 Dear Sofie,

We are having glorious weather, it looks like it’s going to be a good year. We are about to start haymaking, expecting a good hay crop. The soil is good so it looks good for Bjerken.

Mother is weaving for Johanna, since she doesn’t have time herself. Mother is always making something for her, knitting and patching, much there needs it.

Last summer, I was in Kristiania, spending my summer holiday there, since my mother is living there. That was a funny trip, I have never traveled so far before. I thought it was nice, I would like to go and live there, since my mother wants that. But Mother Bjerken wants me to travel to America rather than Kristiania. Next week many Norwegian-Americans arrive in Levanger. There will be fifty people holding a concert in the church. It’s going to be crowded in Levanger, I suppose. Anna and Seknan have visited mother twice, it’s nice talking to them. Mother is traveling down on Monday to say goodbye. Anna has also been at Eide twice. Today, Aslaug Eide is visiting, she wants to visit while I’m home. Aslaug is the same.

She is walking on crutches, it’s quite painful for her, and she gets exhausted quickly. I feel so bad for her, because she is the kindest one of them all.

Since I’m now spending my vacation at home, I would like to take the time to write you some words, and thank you very much for all the gifts you sent along with Anna Bjerken to all of us. I was really pleased to receive a buttonhole scissor, because I had to borrow one each time I needed one. Please extend Mother’s thanks to Magda, for giving her the beautiful tablecloth, and convey my greetings as well.

I was supposed to say hello to you from Johanna and her family, and thank you for everything. We are all in good health, so we manage, though Johanna always has a lot to do. She only has one girl left now.

It’s so difficult to get hold of girls in the countryside, they prefer the cities. I’m still at Muller’s, have been there close to five years, but I want to quit, and travel elsewhere. I, too, would like to go to America. Many from around here have traveled, and they say they like it there, and they earn a lot more than what you can earn here. Anna and Seknan say I must join them when they go back, but I guess that won’t happen, since they travel in eight days.

I have to tell you that Anna Bjerken and Seknan married three weeks ago in Trondheim. We didn’t even know they were engaged before they wrote and told us they got married. Perhaps no one over there knew either. Well, of course it’s their own business.

They must by wealthy, since they travel all the time.

They have traveled all the time since they got here.

Anna first stayed at Muller’s for three weeks. After they got married they have stayed in a hotel when visiting Levanger.

Well, I have to end for now. Loving regards to you all from me and Mother.

Your Jenny Bjerken You must write some words when Anna has returned.

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LET T ER FRO M M ARGA RET H E BJERKEN TO HE LE NE SO FIE H ALVO RS DAT T ER T Ø MT E

Bjerken, 4 May 1911 Dear sister-in-law,

brothers in America, one of them lives in Minnesota but I cannot remember where. Jenny is still at Levanger, at Mullers. She has said many times that she wanted to quit, but it’s a good job and you have to think it through, so you don’t end up with something worse. She comes home and visits me regularly. Convey her regards to Magda, she asked me to. How are your children? You must write and tell me if Henrik is home, living on the farm, how many children he has, and where Jensine is, and where she and her family are living. And likewise Magda, you must convey my regards to everyone.

Would you please convey regards to Anna Bjerken from Petter Skillesvald. He was here a week ago. He looked very old and battered. They don’t lack anything when it comes to the economy, but it’s almost as bad as it gets when it comes to boiling and washing, because his daughter Anna is also very sick. Well, I have to end now, dear sister-in-law, with a hope that these lines will reach you in good condition. You must write soon so I can hear how you are.

Since it’s been a while since we last heard from each other, I want to write some words so you can hear how we are living back home. Thank God I’m in good health.

I’m doing several things each day like carding, spinning and knitting stockings to Johanna, and to others who don’t have any themselves. But it’s quite boring and lonesome because I’m still all by myself here in my “lillestue” (little-living-room). Solberg, who recently bought the farm has moved to Prestegården (rectory), because he leased it. But there are people renting rooms here, so it’s better than being all alone.

I have the photos of you standing on the dresser, and part of my daily routine is to look at them. I’m conveying warm regards from Johanna. She has a lot to struggle with, she now has four children. The youngest is a little girl a year and a half old, named Gudrund. She is pretty and a clever girl for her age. There are two boys, Harald and Johannes. They are really wild, like boys usually are. And there’s Aslaug, she is the oldest of them. She is still walking on crutches, and it’s likely never going to change. She is now 10 years old and attends school during the winter, both her and Johannes. On the Eide farm, they have just finished building a new house, a really magnificent one. They’re expecting visitors from America this summer, one of John’s sisters, married to Jakob Hafstad from Sparbu. They are living in Minneapolis, but are apparently thinking about buying themselves something here at home. John also has two

With loving regards from your sister-in-law, Margrethe Bjerken Have you heard anything about Laura Bjerken? I’m still paying for her in the bank, but that will end soon, and I’m glad for that.

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A journey of faith, family and hard work during trying times where tenacity and diligence brought these Scandinavian Pioneers the joy of building new families and communities that have endured long beyond their imagination.